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TYPICAL    FORMS 


AND 


SPECIAL   ENDS   IN   CREATION 


ET 

REV.  JAMES  M'COSH,  LL.D., 

PKOFE880K  OF   LOGIC  AND  METAPHYSICS  IN   THE   QUEEN'S  UNIVEB8ITY    IN   IRELAND; 

AUTHOB  OF   "TOE  METHOD   OF   TIIE  DIVINE  GOVEBNMENT, 

PHYSICAL  AND  MOEAL,"    ETC.  ; 

AND 

GEORGE  DICKIE,  A.M.,  M.D., 

raOFESSOK  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY   IN  TOE   QUEEN'S  UNIVERSITY   IN   IRELAND  ;    AND 
AUTHOB   OP  A  NUMliEB  OF  PAPERS   ON   ZOOLOGY  AND   ItOTANY. 


TYIIOZ  KAI  TEAOS. 


NEW     YOEK: 
ROBERT    CARTER    &    BROTHERS, 

No.    530    BEOADWAY. 

1887. 


STEREOTYPED    BT 
THOMAS    B.     SMITH, 

82  &  fc  Beekman  St.,  N.  Y. 


PRINTED  B» 

£.  O.   JENKINS, 


ADVERTISEMENT 


THE    AMERICAN    PUBLISHER. 

The  principles  now  fully  explained  and  illustrated  in  this  work 
were  first  brought  before  the  public  in  an  article  on  Typical 
Forms  by  Dr.  McCosh  in  the  "  North  British  Review"  for  August 
1851.  Mr.  Hugh  Miller  wrote  a  lengthened  notice  of  that 
article,  describing  it  as  : 

"  An  article  at  once  the  most  suggestive  and  ingenious  which  we  have 
almost  ever  perused.  The  typology  of  Scripture  has  formed  the  subject  of 
many  a  volume  and  many  a  discourse.  It  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  and 
rudimental  truths  of  the  theologian,  that  he  who  spoke  in  parable  and 
allegory  when  he  walked  the  earth  in  the  flesh,  spoke  in  his  previous  rev- 
elation ere  he  had  yet  put  on  the  nature  of  man,  by  type  and  symbol;  and 
that  there  is  thus  a  palpable  unity  of  style  maintained  between  God  in 
the  Old  and  God  in  the  New  Testament.  Nay,  some  of  the  profounder 
theologians  went  further  than  this ;  and  works  such  as  the  "  Analogy"  of 
Butler  may  be  regarded  in  one  point  of  view  as  critical  Essays,  written  to 
establish  a  yet  further  identity  between  the  style  of  Deity  in  Revelation 
and  in  Nature.  "All  things  are  double  one  against  another,"  said  the 
wise  son  of  Sirach  ;  and  the  celebrated  "  Treatise"  of  the  most  philosophic 
of  English  bishops  maybe  deemed  simply  an  expansion  of  the  idea.  Butler 
set  himself  to  seek  in  the  natural  world  the  "  double"  of  the  revelations  of 
the  spiritual  one,  and  to  argue  from  the  existence  and  fitness  of  the  natural 
type  the  authenticity  and  genuineness  of  the  spiritual  anti-type.  Such,  in 
short,  seems  to  be  the  principle  of  his  "Analogy."  It  has,  however,  been 
reserved  for  our  own  times,  and  hitherto  at  least  for  a  class  of  men  not 
much  disposed  to  conciliate  the  assertors  of  the  popular  theology,  whether 
at  home  or  abroad — in  Protestant  or  in  Popish  countries — to  find  in  Nature 
analogies  which,  though  they  themselves  have  failed  to  apply  them,  seem 
to  reach  further  than  even  those  of  Butler ;  and  which,  we  can  have  little 
doubt,  will  at  no  distant  date  form  the  staple  facts  of  a  department  of 
theology  still  very  meagerly  represented  in  our  literature,  and  intermediate 
in  its  place  and  character  between  the  Natural  Theology  of  the  Philoso- 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

phers  and  the  Dogmatic  Theology  of  the  Divines.  The  article  in  the  "  North 
British"  on  Typical  Forms  is  a  vigorous  contribution  to  this  middle  depart- 
ment of  theology,  which,  like  a  central  area  left  unbuilt  in  a  street  after 
the  completion  of  the  erections  on  bpth  sides,  seems  so  necessary  to  the 
union  of  the  contiguous  fabrics,  and  to  the  design  of  the  whole  ;  and  all 
that  its  perusal  leaves  us  to  regret  is,  that  its  accomplished  author,  in 
whom  the  reader  will,  we  believe,  recognize  a  most  original  thinker — a 
man  already  well  known  in  the  ethical  field,  both  in  our  own  country  and 
America — should  not  have  expanded  it  into  a  volume.  But  in  the  special 
field  which  he  has  chosen  he  need  not  greatly  fear  a  competitor.  The  sub- 
ject is  one,  too,  on  which  thought  ripens  slowly ;  for,  like  the  agricultural 
produce  of  a  new  colony,  it  has  all  to  be  raised  from  the  seed ;  and  the 
deeply  interesting,  but,  comparatively  brief  article  of  the  reviewer,  will,  we 
can  not  doubt,  be  yet  expanded  into  a  separate  treatise,  which  will  prove 
none  the  less  fresh,  and  all  the  more  solid,  from  the  circumstance  that  it 
should  have  appeared  as  an  article  first." 

Since  the  time  when  the  article  referred  to  was  written,  Dr. 
McCosh,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Dickie,  has  been  prosecuting 
the  subject,  and  the  two  have  laid  a  number  of  their  scientific 
observations  before  various  learned  societies,  such  as  the  Bo- 
tanical Society  of  Edinburg,  the  Natural  History  Society  of 
Belfast,  and  the  British  Association  for  the  Promotion  of  Science 
at  its  meetings  in  1852  and  1854.  Summaries  of  these  have 
appeared  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  Edin- 
burgh in  the  Annals  of  Natural  History,  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  British  Association,  and  in  the  E  [rabiirgh  New  Philosophi- 
cal Journal.  They  were  referred  to  by  his  Grace  the  Duke 
of  Argyle,  the  President  of  the  British  Association,  in  his  open- 
ing address  in  September  last  in  the  following  language: 

"  In  physiology,  what  is  the  meaning  of  that  great  law  of  adherence  to 
type  and  pattern,  standing  behind,  as  it  were,  and  in  reserve,  of  that  other 
law  by  which  organic  structures  are  specially  adapted  to  special  modes  of 
life  ?  What  is  the  relation  between  these  two  laws ;  and  can  any  light  be 
cast  upon  it  derived  from  the  history  of  extinct  forms,  or  from  the  condi- 
tions to  which  we  find  that  existing  forms  are  subject  ?  In  vegetable  phy- 
siology do  the  same  or  similar  laws  prevail,  or  can  we  trace  others,  such  as 
these  on  the  relations  between  structure,  form,  and  color,  of  which  clear 
indications  have  already  been  established  in  communications  lately  made 
»o  this  Association  by  Dr.  McCosh  and  Dr.  Dickie  of  Belfast." 


CONTENTS, 


BOOK   FIRST. 

PRINCIPLES    OF    GENERAL    ORDER   AND    SPECIAL   ADAPTATION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

NATURE   OF   THE   ORDER  PREVAILING   IN   THE   MATERIAL   WORLD. 

PAGH 

Sect.  I. — Principles  which  seem  to  run  through  the  Structure  of 

the  Cosmos,       ......  1 

Sect.  II. — Analysis  of  the  Order  in  Nature,  ...  10 

CHAPTER  II. 

nature  of  the  special  adaptations  in  the  material  world. 

Sect.  I. — Need  of  Special  Adjustments  in  order  to  tho  Beneficent 

Operation  of  the  Forces  of  Nature,        ...  30 

Sect.  II. — The  Adjustments  are  designed,  and  not  Casual. — Na- 
ture of  Chance,  .....  39 

Sect.  III. — The   Obviousness  and   Completeness  of  the  Special 

Adaptations,      ......  56 


BOOK    SECOND. 

CO-ORDINATED    SERIES  OF  FACTS,  GIVING   INDICATIONS    OF    COM- 
BINED ORDER  AND  ADAPTATION  THROUGHOUT  THE 
VARIOUS   KINGDOMS    OF   NATURE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

toe  minute  structure  of  plants  and  animals. 

Sect.  I. — Order  in  the  Structure  of  the  Cell,  .  .  .  69 

Sect.  II. — Special  Modifications  of  the  Coll,  .  .  •  ^  1 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE   FORMS   OF   PLANTS. 

(Ml 

Sect.  I. — Traces  of  Order  in  the  Organs  of  Plants,  .  .  81 

Sect.  II. — Traces  of  Special  Adaptation  in  the  Organs  of  the  Plant,         130 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   COLOURS  OF  PLANTS. 

Sect.  I.— The  Relation  of  Form  and  Colour  in  the  Flower,  .        146 

Sect.  II. — Adaptation  of  the   Colours  of  Plants  to  the  Natural 

Tastes  of  Man,  .....        152 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON. 

Sect.   I. — The    Homologies   and   Homotypes  of  the   Vertebrate 

Skeleton,  ......        175 

Sect.  II. — Special  Adaptations  in  the  Structure  of  the  Skeleton,     .         192 

CHAPTER  V. 

TEETH. 

Sect.  I. — Order  in  the  Number,  Form,  and  Structure  of  Teeth,       .        213 
Sect.  II. — Special  Adaptations  in  the  Number,  Form,  and  Struc- 
ture of  Teeth,  .....        215 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MOLLUSCA. 

Sect.  I. — Typical  Forms  of  Mollusca,  ....        223 

Sect.  II. — Modifications  of  the  Archetype  Mollusc,  .  .        227 

CHAPTER  VII. 

ARTICTJLATA. 

Sect.  I. — Homotypal  Rings  and  Appendages,  .  .  .        233 

Sect.  IT. — Special  Modifications  of  Rings  and  Appendages,  .        237 


CONTENTS.  VU 

CHAPTER  VIII. 


PAQB 

Sect.  I. — Typical  Forms  of  Radiata,  ....         261 

Sect.  II. — Adaptation  of  Radiate  Types  to  Mode  of  Life,     .  .        211 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Nervous,  vascular,  and  muscular  systems,        .  .  .        280 


CHAPTER  X. 

Community   of   plan,    with   special   modifications,    in   the 

development  of  organized  beings,  .  .  .        299 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GEOLOGY. 

Sect.  I. — Traces  of  Plan  in  Fossil  Remains,  .  .  .        309 

Sect.  II. — Adaptations  of  Fossil  Organisms  to  their  Functions. — 

Preparations  for  Man,  .  .  .  .333 

CHAPTER  XII. 

INORGANIC  OBJECTS  ON  THE  EARTH'S  SURFACE. 

Sect.  I. — Crystalline  Forms  and  Chemical  Proportions,       .  .        354 

Sect.  II. — Adaptations  of  Inorganic  Objects  to  Animals  and  Plants 

— Physical  Geography,  .         '  .  .  .         369 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  HEAVENS. 

Sect.  I. — Order  in  the  Movements  of  the  Heavenly  Bodies,  .        388 

Sect.  II. — Special  Adjustments  needed  in  order  to  the  Harmony 

of  Cosmical  Bodies,  401 


Vlil  CONTENTS. 

BOOK    THIRD. 

THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  FACTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PACK 

The  argument  from  combined  order  and  adaptation,  .        420 


CHAPTER  II. 

CORRESPONDENCE  between  the  laws  op  the  material  world  and  the 

FACULTIES   OF   THE   HUMAN   MIND. 

Sect.  I. — The  Fantasy,  or  Imaging  Power  of  the  Mind,  .  .  440 
Sect.  II. — The  Faculties  which  discover  Relations  (Correlative),  .  449 
Sect.  III. — The  Association  of  Ideas,  ....  473 
Sect.  IV. — The  ^Esthetic  Sentiments,  ....  481 
Supplementary  Section. — Brief  Historical  and  Critical  Review 
of  the  Theories  of  the  Continental  Philosophers  as  to  the  Re- 
lation between  the  Laws  of  the  Internal  and  External  Worlds,      .  492 


CHAPTER  III. 

TYPICAL  SYSTEMS  OF  NATURE   AND   REVELATION. 

Sect.  I.— Old  Testament  Types,       .....        504 
Sect.  II. — Typical  Numbers  of  Scripture,  .  .  .518 

Sect.  III. — Typical  System  of  the  New  Testament,  .  .        525 


APPENDIX. 


Selected  List  of  Plants,  illustrating  Associations  of  Colour,  and  the 

Relati  ns  of  Form  and  Colour,  ....        533 

Tndex,  ........        537 


BOOK     FIRST, 


CHAPTER    I. 

NATURE    OF   THE    ORDER   PREVAILING    IN    THE   MATERIAL 

WORLD. 

SECT.  I. PRINCIPLES    WHICH    SEEM   TO   RUN   THROUGH 

THE   STRUCTURE    OF   THE   COSMOS. 

In  taking  an  enlarged  view  of  the  constitution  of  the 
material  universe,  so  far  as  it  falls  under  our  notice,  it 
may  be  discovered  that  attention,  at  once  extensive  and 
minute,  is  paid  to  two  great  principles  or  methods  of 
procedure.  The  one  is  the  Principle  of  Order,  or  a 
General  Plan,  Pattern,  or  Type,  to  which  every  given 
object  is  made  to  conform  with  more  or  less  precision. 
The  other  is  the  Principle  of  Special  Adaptation,  or 
Particular  End,  by  which  each  object,  while  constructed 
after  a  general  model,  is,  at  the  same  time,  accommo- 
dated to  the  situation  which  it  has  to  occupy,  and  #  pur- 
pose which  it  is  intended  to  serve.  These  two  principles 
are  exhibited  in  not  a  few  inorganic  objects,  and  they 
meet  in  the  structure  of  every  plant  and  every  animal. 

These  two  principles  are  characteristic  of  intelli- 
gence ;  they  must  proceed  from  intelligence,  and  they  are 
addressed  to  intelligence.  They  may  both  be  discovered, 
though  necessarily  to  a  limited  extent,  in  human  work- 

1 


1  PRINCIPLES   RUNNING   THROUGH 

manship.  When  circumstances  admit,  man  delights  to 
construct  the  instruments  or  utensils  which  are  designed 
to  serve  a  common  purpose  after  a  common  plan,  even 
when  this  is  by  no  means  essential  to  the  immediate 
purpose  to  be  served.  Each  particular  piece  of  dress  or 
article  of  furniture  in  a  country  is  commonly  fashioned 
after  some  general  model,  so  that  we  are  able  to  guess 
its  use  as  soon  as  we  cast  our  eyes  upon  it.  That  there 
is  so  much  of  this  figure  no  way  fitted  to  accomplish  a 
special  end,  is  evident  from  the  circumstance  that  articles 
serving  the  same  purpose  take — in  different  ages  and 
nations,  and  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  place  or  time 
— somewhat  different  forms,  all  of  which  are  equally 
convenient.  The  farmer  builds  up  his  grain  in  stacks, 
which  have  all  a  like  contour,  and  the  merchant  packs 
his  goods  in  vessels  of  equal  size  and  similar  shape,  or 
disposes  of  them  in  bales  of  equal  weight.  It  is  only 
when  his  possessions  are  so  arranged  that  man  can  be 
said  to  have  the  command  of  them.  Were  his  property 
not  so  disposed,  were  his  grain  gathered  into  heaps  of  all 
sizes  and  shapes,  were  his  merchandise  scattered  in  every 
corner  of  the  apartment,  the  possessor  would  become 
bewildered  in  proportion  to  the  profusion  and  variety  of 
his  wealth.  When  things  are  formed  or  arranged  on 
some  plan  tacitly  agreed  on,  man  can  recognize  every 
object  at  a  distance  by  its  physiognomy,  and  determine 
its  nature  and  its  end  without  seeing  it  in  use  or  ope- 
ration. 

There  are  still  more  frequent  and  obvious  examples 
in  the  works  of  man  of  the  principle  of  special  adap- 
tation. While  there  is  a  general  regard,  so  far  as  it  can 
be  done  without  immediate  inconvenience  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  order,  there  is  a  far  more  constant  attention  to 
the  other  principle.    In  some  cases,  indeed,  little  respect 


THE    MATERIAL    WOULD.  6 

can  be  had  to  the  general  model ;  the  sole  end  aimed  at 
is  the  fitting  of  the  instrument  to  the  purpose  which  it 
is  meant  to  serve.  In  nations  low  in  the  scale  of  civili- 
zation, and  among  persons  who  have  to  engage  in  a  hard 
struggle  to  procure  the  necessaries  of  life,  the  general 
order  is  apt  to  be  neglected  in  the  exclusive  regard 
which  must  be  had  to  immediate  utility.  In  such  cir- 
cumstances, individuals  care  little  how  an  article  he  con- 
structed, provided  it  serves  its  practical  purpose.  But 
as  man's  industrial  treasures  increase,  and  the  number 
of  separate  works  intended  to  accomplish  similar  ends 
are  multiplied,  he  finds  it  becoming  to  institute  some 
systematic  arrangement  among  them,  or  devise  some 
pattern  after  which  to  fashion  them. 

When  hard  necessity  does  not  forbid,  man  feels  a 
pleasure  in  constructing  his  works  upon  a  general  plan. 
Human  intelligence  delights  to  employ  itself  in  forming 
such  models.  They  seem  to  have  a  beauty  to  the  eye, 
or  rather  to  the  mind,  which  contemplates  them.  If  it 
is  a  basket  that  is  to  be  woven,  there  will  commonly  be  a 
regularity  in  the  succession  of  the  plaits,  and  an  aiming 
after  some  ideal  form  in  the  shape  of  the  whole.  If  it 
is  a  water-jug  that  is  to  be  fashioned,  there  will  be  a 
general  attention  paid  to  symmetry  ;  not  unfrequently 
there  will  be  graceful  and  waving  lines  in  the  figure 
which  strikes  the  eye.  The  dwelling  which  the  indi- 
vidual erects  for  his  own  special  accommodation,  will 
commonly  be  found  to  have  a  door,  or  some  other  prom- 
inent object,  in  the  center,  with  a  balancing  of  pillars, 
windows,  or  something  else  that  fixes  the  attention,  on 
the  one  side  and  the  other.  As  man  advances  in  the 
scale  of  civilization,  and  comes  to  have  superfluous  wealth 
and  leisure,  he  pays  an  increasing  attention  to  symmetry 
and  ornament.     In  the  urns  which  he  makes  to  receive. 


4  PRINCIPLES   RUNNING   THROUGH 

the  ashes  of  the  dead,  in.  the  temples  erected  by  hiui  in 
honor  of  the  God  whom  he  worships,  there  is  a  scrupu- 
lous regard  had  to  proportion  and  outline.  As  wealth 
accumulates  and  taste  is  cultivated,  the  law  of  order  and 
ornament  comes  to  he  valued  for  its  own  sake,  and  is 
followed  in  the  construction  of  every  house,  and  of  every 
article  of  furniture  in  that  house,  in  the  setting  of  every 
jewel,  and  in  the  location  of  every  ornament. 

In  most  articles  of  human  workmanship  we  may  dis- 
cover a  greater  or  less  attention  to  hoth  of  the  principles 
to  which  we  have  referred.  The  farmer's  stacks  are  all 
formed  after  a  general  mould,  but  we  may  observe  a 
departure  from  it  on  either  side  to  suit  the  quantity  or 
quality  of  the  grain.  The  merchant's  shop  seems  to  be 
regulated  by  forms  or  weights,  but  there  is  special  form 
or  average  weight  for  every  separate  article.  In  some 
objects  we  see  a  greater  regard  to  general  plan,  and  in 
others  to  special  purposes,  and  this  according  as  persons 
wish  to  give  a  greater  prominence  at  the  time  to  orna- 
ment or  to  utility. 

Now,  if  this  world  proceeds  from  intelligence,  and  if 
it  is  intended  to  be  contemplated  by  intelligence,  it  is 
surely  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  there  may  be 
traces  in  it  of  the  same  two  modes  of  procedure.  In  this 
treatise  we  hope  to  be  able  to  show  that  there  are  abun- 
dant illustrations  of  both,  by  an  induction  reaching  over 
all  the  kingdoms  of  nature,  and  extending  even  into  the 
kingdoms  of  grace.  Both  will  be  found  in  the  theology 
of  nature  to  point  to  the1  same  conclusion  ;  each  furnishes 
its  appropriate  proof  of  the  existence  and  wisdom  of  a 
Being  who  hath  constructed  every  thing  on  a  plan,  and 
made  it,  at  the  same  time,  to  serve  a  purpose.  The  one, 
as  well  as  the  other,  will  be  found  in  the  dispensations 
of  God,  in  the  kingdom  of  his  Son,  and  point  to  a  most 


THE    MATERIAL    WORLD.  5 

interesting  analogy  between  nature  and  revelation.  It 
will  be  expedient  to  treat  of  them  as  so  far  different, 
which  they  really  are,  but  it  will  be  necessary,  at  the 
same  time,  to  show,  what  is  equally  true,  that  the  two 
principles  are  made  to  correspond  the  one  to  the  other, 
that  they  meet  in  a  higher  unity,  and  that,  after  all,  they 
are  but  two  aspects — in  many  respects  different  indeed — 
of  one  Great  Truth.* 

In  certain  sections  of  this  treatise  it  is  proposed  to 
unfold  some  of  the  more  striking  examples  of  General 
Plan.  In  respect  of  this  order  of  facts,  natural  theology 
can  now  take  a  step  in  advance,  in  consequence  of  what 
has  been  done  of  late  years  in  the  discovery  of  homologies 
by  the  sciences  of  comparative  anatomy  and  morpho- 
logical botany.  But  the  recent  discoveries  in  regard  to 
the  homology  of  parts  can  never  set  aside  the  old  doctrine 
of  the  teleology  of  parts,  which  affirms  that  every  organ 
is  adapted  to  a  special  end.  Every  organic  object  is  con- 
structed after  a  type,  (rtnoc,)  and  is,  at  the  same  time, 

*  In  order  to  remove  misapprehension,  it  may  be  necessary  hero  to  estimate  how  much 
truth  there  is  in  a  statement  of  Professor  Owen,  who  has  done  so  much  to  illustrate  the 
subject  of  general  order.  "  By  whatever  means  or  instruments  man  aids  or  supersedes 
his  natural  locomotive  organs,  such  instruments  are  adapted  expressly  and  immediately 
to  the  cud  proposed.  He  does  not  fetter  himself  by  the  trammels  of  any  common  type 
of  locomotive  instrument,  and  increase  his  pains  by  having  to  adjust  the  parts  and  com- 
pensate their  proportions  so  as  best  to  perform  the  end  required  without  deviating  from 
the  pattern  previously  laid  down  for  all.  There  is  no  community  of  plan  or  structure 
between  the  boat  and  the  balloon,  between  Stephenson's  engine  and  Brunei's  tunnelling 
machinery ;  a  very  remote  analogy,  if  any,  can  be  traced  between  the  instruments  de- 
vised by  man  to  travel  in  the  air  and  on  the  sea,  through  the  earth  or  along  its  surface." 
(Owen  on  the  Nature  of  Limbs,  p.  9.)  There  is  truth  in  the  remark  here  made,  but  it 
seems  to  us  to  be  overstated,  and  without  the  necessary  corrections.  Man  does,  in  many 
cases,  construct  the  works  which  arc  to  serve  a  common  end  upon  a  common  plan. 
There  is  a  model  structure  for  the  boat,  for  the  steam-engine,  for  our  houses,  and  our 
temples,  in  which  elegance  is  more  or  less  attended  to.  But  still  it  is  to  be  admitted 
that  the  harmonies,  the  correspondences,  the  compensations,  are  far  more  numerous  and 
beautiful,  both  in  kind  and  degree,  in  the  works  of  God  than  in  the  works  of  man.  It 
is  certain  that  the  union  of  the  two  principles  is  not  so  frequently  attended  to  in  human 
•s  in  Divine  workmanship.  Man  is  often  obliged  to  sacrifice  the  one  to  the  other,  the 
symmetry  to  the  convenience,  or  the  utility  to  the  ornament.  It  is  only  in  the  works 
of  Deity  that  we  find  the  two  at  all  tinies  in  harmonious  operation. 


6  PKINCIPLES    RUNNING    THROUGH 

made  to  accomplish  a  final  cause,  (lilog.)  Throughout 
the  next  Book  we  purpose  to  exhibit  the  traces  of  General 
Order  in  one  series  of  sections,  and  the  traces  of  Special 
Adaptation  in  another  series  of  sections,  the  two  being 
made  to  run  alongside  of  each  other.  While  both 
will  be  illustrated,  it  will  be  seen,  by  our  adopting  this 
method,  that  the  two  are  not  contradictory,  but  coin- 
cident ;  that  they  do  not  cross,  but  run  parallel  to  each 
other.  The  general  conformity  to  a  pattern  will  be  seen 
to  be  all  the  more  curious  when  contemplated  in  con- 
nection with  certain  singular  deviations  ;  while  the  special 
modifications  will  appear  all  the  more  wonderful  when 
exhibited  as  a  departure,  and  evidently  an  intentional 
departure,  to  effect  a  particular  end,  from  a  model  usually 
attended  to,  nay,  to  some  extent  attended  to,  it  may  be, 
in  the  very  structure  which  is  thus  modified.  The  de- 
signed irregularities  will  thus,  by  a  legitimate  reaction, 
show  that  the  regularities  are  also  designed  ;  the  excep- 
tions in  this  case  emphatically  prove  the  rule.  The 
nature  of  the  eccentricities  demonstrate  that,  after  all, 
there  is  a  center  round  which  the  revolution  is  per- 
formed ;  the  deviations  point  to  a  disturbing  influence 
also  under  the  influence  of  law — in  much  the  same  way 
as  the  deviations  of  an  old  planet  were  shown  by  living 
astronomers  to  point  to  a  previously  undiscovered  plane- 
tary body.  The  nature,  the  value,  and  the  relation  of  the 
two  principles,  will  thus  come  out  to  view  more  strikingly 
by  comparison  and  contrast  when  they  are  2^1aced  in 
juxtaposition. 

The  arguments  and  illustrations  adduced  by  British 
writers  for  the  last  age  or  two  in  behalf  of  the  Divine 
existence,  have  been  taken  almost  exclusively  from  the 
indications  in  nature  of  special  adaptation  of  parts. 
Hence,  when  traces  were  discovered  within  the  last  age 


THE    MATEKIAL    WORLD.  7 

of  a  general  pattern,  which  had  no  reference  to  the  com- 
fort of  the  animal  or  the  functions  of  the  particular  plant, 
the  discoveiy  was  represented  by  some  as  overturnino; 
the  whole  doctrine  of  final  cause ;  not  a  few  viewed  the 
new  doctrine  with  suspicion  or  alarm,  as  seemingly 
adverse  to  religion,  while  the  great  body  of  scientific 
men  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  its  religious  import. 
The  question  is  thus  started,  Have  not  the  writers  on  the 
theology  of  nature  been  of  late  most  unnecessarily  nar- 
rowing and  restricting  the  argument  ?  We  have  found 
it  most  interesting  to  notice  that  the  philosophers  of 
ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  and  not  a  few  of  the  earlier 
writers  on  the  subject  in  our  own  country,  gave  it  a 
much  wider  range,  and  reckoned  that  they  had  found 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  God  whenever  they  detected 
traces  of  order  and  ornament.  Let  us  inquire  what 
instruction  we  can  gather  on  this  subject  from  some  of 
those  great  luminaries  of  the  ancient  world,  which,  like 
stars,  send  their  light  down  to  us  through  the  wide  space 
which  intervenes,  and  serve,  like  them,  to  enlarge  and 
rectify  our  ideas  of  magnitude,  and  to  keep  us  from 
being  unduly  impressed  with  the  greatness  of  the  near 
and  the  present. 

Plato,  in  the  Fourth  Book  of  the  Laws,  makes  Clinias 
of  Crete,  in  proving  the  existence  of  God  from  his  works, 
appeal  at  once  to  the  order  and  beauty  of  the  universe, 
and  does  not  regard  it  as  at  all  necessary  to  dwell  on 
minute  instances  of  adaptation.  He  refers  to  the  earth, 
the  sun,  and  all  the  stars,  and  to  the  beautiful  arrange- 
ment of  the  seasons,  divided  into  months  and  years,  as 
evidencing  that  there  is  a  Divine  Being.'"'  In  the  review 
of  the  argument  in  the  Twelfth  Book,  he  repeats,  that 
the  orderly  movements  of  the  stars,  and  other  objects, 

*  B.  x.  c.  9,  where  be  also  brings  in  the  argument  from  universal  consent. 


8  PRINCIPLES   RUNNING   THROUGH 

prove  that  all  things  were  arranged  and  adorned,  not 
by  mutter  or  necessity,  but  according  to  a  Divine  fore- 
thought and  will.*  According  to  the  sublime  philosophy 
of  Plato,  all  things  are  formed  according  to  unalterable 
laws  or  types,  which  remain  unchanged  amidst  the  flux 
of  individual  objects,  and  that  because  they  proceed  from 
eternal  ideas,  which  had  been  in  or  before  the  Divine 
mind  from  all  eternity. 

A  similar  style  of  argument  is  adopted  in  Cicero's 
Treatise  on  the  Nature  of  the  Gods,  the  most  systematic 
work  on  natural  theology  which  has  been  handed  down 
to  us  from  ancient  times.  The  evidence  adduced  by 
Balbus  the  Stoic,  the  representative  of  theism  in  the 
dialogue  by  which  the  argument  is  conducted,  is  derived 
from  four  sources  :  first,  from  the  presages  of  futurity  by 
gifted  men  and  oracles  ;  secondly,  from  the  number  of 
things  fit  and  useful ;  thirdly,  from  prodigies  ;  fourthly, 
and  highest  of  all,  from  the  equable  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  from  the  beauty  and  order  of  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars,  of  which  the  very  sight  is  sufficient 
to  convince  us  that  they  are  not  fortuitous.-}"  Through- 
out his  defence,  he  dwells  on  the  consenting  and  conspir- 
ing motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  on  their  progressions 
and  other  movements,  all  constant  and  according  to  law  ; 
he  points  to  the  planets,  which  are  regular  in  their  very 
wanderings  ;  and  shews  how,  in  all  this,  there  is  an  order 
and  a  certain  likeness  to  art.J  When  one  observes,  he 
says,  their  defined  and  equable  motions,  and  all  things 
proceeding  in  an  appointed  order,  and  by  a  regulated  and 
unchangeable  constancy,  he  is  led  to  understand  not  only 
that  there  is  an  inhabitant  in  this  celestial  and  divine 
dwelling,  but  a  ruler  or  regulator,   and,  if  we   may  so 

*  B.  xiii.  c.  13. 

t  Cic.  De  Nat.  Deor.,  Lib.  II.  c  v.  t  Lib.  11.  c.  vil. ;  xx. ;  xxxll. 


THE   MATERIAL   WORLD.  9 

Speak,  architect  of  so  great  a  work  and  gift.*  He  speaks 
of  the  harmony  arising  from  dissimilar  motions  ;  and 
after  quoting  largely  from  the  hymn  of  Aratus,  he  says, 
such  order  and  ornament  could  not  have  proceeded  from 
bodies  running  together  hither  and  thither,  and  by 
accident.f 

Plutarch  derives  men's  general  agreement  as  to  the 
existence  of  God,  from  their  observation  of  the  constant 
order  and  motion  of  the  stars.J 

In  modern  times,  we  have  the  same  line  of  argument 
seized  by  the  profound  mind  of  Newton.     Keferring  to 

the  UNIFORMITY  IN  THE  BODIES  OF  ANIMALS,  he  Says,   "  It 

must  necessarily  be  confessed  that  it  has  been  effected 
by  intelligence  and  counsel."§  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke  quotes 
this  language,  and  asks — "  In  all  the  greater  species  of 
animals,  where  was  the  necessity  for  the  conformity  we 
observe  in  the  Number  and  Likeness  of  all  their  prin- 
cipal members  ?"|| 

It  is  very  evident  that,  down  to  a  comparatively  late 
date,  writers  on  natural  theism  did  not  confine  their 
proof  to  a  mere  adaptation  of  parts,  but  that  along  with 
this  they  introduced  other  considerations,  and  in  parti- 
cular, the  prevalence  of  general  order.  It  will  not  be 
difficult  to  defend  the  legitimacy  of  the  conviction  which 
the  order  and  beauty  of  the  universe  have  produced  in  un- 
sophisticated minds  in  all  ages.  In  this,  as  in  many  other 
instances,  the  philosopher  will  find  it  to  be  his  delightful 
office,  not  to  set  aside  the  spontaneous  beliefs  of  mankind, 
but  rather  to  vindicate  and  illustrate  them  by  the  new 
discoveries  which  advancing  science  is  ever  opening. 

*  Cic.  De  Nat.  Deor.,  Lib.  ii.  c.  xxsv.  t  Lib.  iL  c.  xliv. 

%  Plut.  De  Plac.  i.  6.  §  Optics. 

|  Demonstration  of  Being  and  Attributes  of  God. 

1* 


10  ANALYSIS   OF    THE 


SECT.  II. ANALYSIS    OF   THE    ORDER   IN"   NATURE LAWS 

OP   NATURE. 

The  most  careless  observer  is  led  to  notice,  that  there 
is  a  beautiful  regularity  running  through   nature   as   a 
whole,   and  through  every  individual  part  of  it.     This 
was  discovered  in  very  early  ages  of  the  world's  history, 
by  persons  who  had  no  very  precise  ideas  as  to  its  nature, 
or  the  means  by  which  it  was  produced.     The   Greeks, 
from  the  time  of  Pythagoras,  embodied  their  impressions 
in  the  word   by  which  they  denoted  the  visible  world, 
which  they  called  Cosmos,  to  denote  at  once  its  order 
and  its  beauty,  while  the  Latins  styled  the  world  Mundus, 
to  express  their  sense  of  its  surpassing  loveliness.     Ever 
since   the   time   when   the    philosophic   spirit   was   first 
awakened,  reflecting  minds  have  been  speculating  as  to 
the  sources  of  this  order,  and  caught,  at  a  very  early  age, 
glimpses  of  the  truth.     The  philosophers  of  the  Ionian 
School,  which  arose  between  600  B.C.  and  500  B.C.,  re- 
ferred it  to  the  power  and  the  varied  transformations  of 
certain  elements,  which  they  did  their  best  to  classify,  as 
air,  water,  earth,  and  fire,  representing  the  dry,  the  moist, 
the  solid,  the  ethereal.     In  the  speculations  of  this  school, 
we  have  vague  anticipations  of  modern  chemistry,  and  in 
particular,  of  the  doctrine  of  polar  forces,  in  the  balanced 
strife  and  friendships  of  Empedocles,  and  of  that  of  de- 
finite proportions,  in  the  "  homoiomera"  or  equal  parts  of 
Anaxagoras.     A  rival  school  arose  at  a  little  later  date, 
among  the  Greeks  in  Italy,  and  ascribed  the  order  of 
nature,  in  a  more  profound  spirit,  to  the  power  of  Num- 
bers.    We  have  no  authentic  or  connected  account  of 
the  system  of  the  Pythagoreans,  but  it  is  evident,  from 
the  scattered  notices  which  have  been  handed  clown  to 
us,  that  they  represented  numbers,  the  significance  of 


ORDER   IN    NATURE.  H 

which  is  so  clearly  seen  in  music,  as  in  some  mysterious 
sense  the  principia  of  the  universe.  Aristotle  tells  us, 
that  they  considered  existing  things  to  be  a  copy  of  num- 
bers,* and  we  have  extracts  preserved  from  the  writings 
of  some  of  the  disciples  of  the  school,  describing  numbers 
as  being  in  the  Divine  Mind  prior  to  the  existence  of 
things,  as  being  used  as  a  model  (naQiideiy[<<*)  in  the 
formation  of  objects,  and  as  that  by  which  all  things 
were  brought  together  and  linked  in  order.  Among  the 
disciples  of  the  same  school,  and  others  who  arose  at  a 
subsequent  date,  there  was  supposed  to  be  a  deep  mean- 
ing in  forms  ;  and  the  properties  of  certain  figures,  such 
as  the  triangle,  the  square,  the  parallelogram,  the  circle, 
the  ellipse,  were  investigated  with  great  care,  giving  us 
the  science  of  geometry  as  the  result.  A  very  special  in- 
terest gathered  round  certain  numbers,  such  as  seven  and 
ten,  and  certain  figures,  such  as  the  circle  and  triangle, 
which  came  in  consequence  to  be  regarded  as  perfect,  or 
as  sacred.  From  a  still  earlier  date,  and  as  a  manifestation 
of  the  same  intellectual  propensity,  peculiar  feelings  be- 
came associated  with  certain  recurring  times  and  perio- 
dical seasons,  such  as  the  revolutions  of  the  moon,  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  other  cycles,  which  seemed  to 
have  a  deep  significancy  in  the  economy  of  nature.  De- 
mocritus,  who  lived  400  B.C.,  and  the  Epicureans,  who 
flourished  at  a  later  date,  sought  for  the  origin  of  this 
order  in  the  formation  of  all  things  out  of  atoms  possessed 
of  definite  forms.  The  sublime  genius  of  Plato  ascribed 
it  to  certain  patterns  after  which  all  things  were  fash- 
ioned, which  patterns  he  traced  back  to  the  eternal  ideas 
of  the  Divine  Mind.  Aristotle,  while  correcting  some  of 
the  extravagances  Of  his  great  master,  clung  resolutely  to 
the  doctrine,  that  forms  were  as  necessary  as  matter  to 

*  Mifiqaiv  c'lvai  ra  Svta  rdv  apiO/taiVi — Metaph.  of  Aria. 


12  ANALYSIS   OF   THE 

the  construction  of  the  universe.  The  Platonists  of  the 
Alexandrian  School  literally  revelled  among  numbers 
and  forms,  till  they  lost  themselves  among  their  intrica- 
cies and  windings.  The  Platonizing  Jew  who  wrote  the 
Book  of  Wisdom,  caught  for  a  moment  a  very  clear 
glimpse  of  the  full  truth,  when  he  speaks  of  God 
"  having  arranged  all  things  in  measure,  number,  and 
weight."® 

Early  science,  like  youth,  is  ardent,  is  eager,  and  not 
having  as  yet  determined  either  its  strength  or  its  weak- 
ness, it  would  attempt  every  work,  and  works  far  beyond 
its  capacity.  Like  the  giants  of  the  early  world,  it  is 
ambitious,  and  would  heap  Ossa  on  Pelion,  and  mount 
to  heaven,  not  by  gradual  and  numerous  steps,  but  by 
one  b£#  bold  and  presumptuous  effort.  In  following  this 
method  of  speculation,  the  sage — as  he  meditates  on 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  or  Nile,  along  which  an 
early  civilisation  had  sprang  up,  or  in  the  cities  of 
Miletus,  Elea,  or  Athens,  in  which  the  human  spirit 
was  sharpened  by  discussion  and  the  love  of  enterprise 
— makes  many  a  shrewd  guess  ;  he  anticipates  not  a 
few  truths  which  later  discovery  confirms  ;  he  awakens  a 
spirit  of  inquiry  which  craves  for  a  more  accurate  mode 
of  procedure  ;  and  if  he  does  not  settle,  he  at  least  starts 
questions  which  must  sooner  or  later  be  settled.  But 
his  attempt,  though  characterized  by  enlargement  of 
vision  and  power  of  vaticination,  is,  in  respect  of  scien- 
tific strictness  and  certainty  of  result,  a  failure,  and  the 
favourite  dogma  of  one  school  is  ever  disputed  by  the 
disciples  of  another  school.  It  turns  out  that  the  work 
which  one  man  or  one  school  has  attempted,  needs,  in 
order  to  its  completion,  the  combined  industry  of  many 
investigators    continued   through  long  successive   ages. 

*  lidvra  fierpto  Kal  apifyico  Kai  arafyoj  Jiardjaj. 


ORDER   IN    NATURE.  13 

For  just  as  when  society  makes  progress  there  is  a  neces- 
sity for  the  division  of  manual  labour,  (as  Adam  Smith 
has  shewn  in  the  opening  chapter  of  the  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions,) so,  in  order  to  the  advance  of  science,  there  is  need 
of  a  division  of  intellectual  labour.  Most  important  of 
all,  there  arises,  in  the  midst  of  the  jealousies  of  rival 
schools  and  the  noise  of  fruitless  disputations,  a  demand 
for  a  surer,  even  though  it  should  be  a  slower,  method  of 
investigation, — a  method  which  will  give  results,  be  they 
many  or  be  they  few,  which  are  not  of  the  nature  of  in- 
genious speculations,  to  be  set  aside  by  other  ingenious 
speculations,  but  ascertained  truths,  fixed  for  ever,  and 
which  all  inquirers  who  come  after  may  use,  to  help  them 
to  add  to  the  accumulating  stores  of  knowledge.  It  is 
late  in  the  history  of  the  world  before  such  a  plan  comes 
to  be  systematically  unfolded  ;  and  it  is  to  the  glory  of 
our  country,  a  glory  not  exceeded  even  by  that  of  the 
land  which  produced  Plato  and  Aristotle,  that  the  first 
exposition  of  it  was  by  Lord  Bacon.  Since  his  days, 
scientific  inquirers,  according  to  their  tastes,  talents,  and 
position,  have  betaken  them  each  to  his  own  field  of  in- 
vestigation, with  the  view  of  thoroughly  exploring  it ; 
and  as  the  grand  result,  we  have  a  settled  body  of  truth, 
to  which  additions  will  be  made  from  age  to  age. 

But  as  the  deeply-underlying  and  prompting  cause  of 
all  this  intellectual  activity,  there  is  still  the  same  crav- 
ing desire  to  find  out  the  means  by  which  unity  and 
order  are  given  to  the  great  Cosmos.  In  these  days  we 
speak  of  all  tilings  being  governed  by  laws  ;  we  lay  it 
down  as  a  maxim,  that  the  end  of  all  science  is  the  dis- 
covery of  law.  The  language  may  be  more  correct  than 
that  employed  by  the  ancients,  but  it  is  far  from  being 
definite  or  incapable  of  misinterpretation.  For  the  ques- 
tion occurs,  What  is  meant  by  laws  in  this  application 


14  ANALYSIS    OF    THE 

of  the  term  ?  Every  one  sees  that,  as  thus  used,  it  does 
not  mean  the  same  thing  as  when  we  speak  of  the  laws 
of  a  country,  of  the  moral  law,  or  of  the  law  of  Grod;  It 
is  a  term  with  which  we  cannot  dispense,  but  it  is  far 
from  being  unambiguous  ;  it  is  often  used  in  an  unlawful 
sense,  and  at  times  it  is  turned  to  the  worst  of  purposes, 
as  when  it  is  supposed,  that  in  referring  an  event  to  a 
law  of  nature,  we  have  placed  it  beyond  the  dominion  of 
God.  When  we  speak  of  things  being  arranged  in  a 
law,  or  falling  out  according  to  a  law,  we  signify,  if  we 
know  what  we  mean,  that  all  phenomena  take  place  in 
a  regular  manner,  that  is,  according  to  a  rule.'*  It  is 
the  special  office  of  each  science  to  discover  what  the 
nature  of  the  law  is  in  its  own  department.  This  is  the 
grand  aim,  so  far  as  it  has  a  grand  aim,  of  all  modern 
physical  investigation, — to  determine  the  rule  to  which 
the  particular  classes  of  objects  under  contemplation 
accommodate  themselves.  But  in  very  proportion  as 
the  sciences  have  become  subdivided  and  narrowed  to 
particular  facts,  is  there  a  desire  waxing  stronger,  among 
minds  of  larger  view,  to  have  the  light  which  they  have 
scattered  collected  into  a  focus.  As  the  special  sciences 
advance,  the  old  question,  which  has  been  from  the  be- 
ginning, will  anew  and  anew  be  started, — What  is  the 
general  meaning  of  the  laws  which  reign  throughout  the 
visible  world  ?  A  correct  and  adequate  answer  to  this 
wide  question  can  be  given  only  by  a  wide  induction, 
and  a  combination  of  the  results  gained  by  a  vast  number 
of  separate  sciences,  each  conducted  on  its  own  principles. 
We  live  in  the  expectation  of  the  approach  of  a  time 
when  science — the  division  of  labour  having  fulfilled  its 
ends — shall  seek  to  combine  its  individual  truths,  and  to 

*  Seo  a  more  minute  analysis  of  the  laws  of  nature  in  the  Method  of  the  Divine  Govern- 
ment, Physical  and  Moral,  B.  ii.  o.  t 


ORDER   IN    NATURE.  15 

realize  the  dream  of  its  youth,  and,  as  it  were,  carry  us 
to  a  mountain  top,  whence  we  may  obtain  not  only  a 
scattered  view  of  the  separate  parts,  but  a  connected  view 
of  the  whole,  and  of  the  relative  bearing  and  direction  of 
every  part.  It  appears  to  us  that  we  are  approaching 
the  time  when  an  answer  may  be  given  to  the  old  ques- 
tion, and  that  this  must  be  something  like  the  following  : 
— All  things  in  this  world  are  subordinated  to  law,  and 
this  law  is  just  the  order  established  in  nature  by  Him 
who  made  nature,  and  is  an  order  in  respect  of  such 
qualities  as  number,  time,  colour,  and  form.  We  use 
the  vague  languages  of  such  qualities,  because  science  has 
not  arrived  at  such  a  stage  as  to  enable  it  to  determine 
what  these  qualities  are  with  anything  like  perfect  cer- 
tainty and  precision.* 

Every  law  of  nature  which  can  be  said  to  be  correctly 
ascertained  is  certainly  of  this  description.  We  shall 
furnish  abundant  illustrations  in  the  next  Book  of  this 
treatise  ;  in  this  section  we  are  merely  to  collect  a  few 
striking  examples  of  the  attention  paid  to  each  of  the 
qualities  named,  and  thus  prepare  the  way  for  entering 
upon  the  separate  sciences,  when  more  systematic  proof 
will  be  offered. 

First,  There  is  an  Order  in  Nature  in  Respect 
of  Number.— This  important  truth,  long  believed  in 
before  it  could  plead  any  scientific  evidence  in  its  favour, 
was  established  and  brought  into  prominence  when 
Kepler  unfolded  the  three  laws  which  have  formed,  his- 
torically, the  foundation  of  modern  astronomy.     It  was 

*  A  more  scientific  classification  would  probably  give  us  active  property  instead  of 
colour,  and  including  colour.  There  is  a  curious  combination  of  active  properties  con- 
stituting individual  objects,  and  enabling  us  to  classify  them,  which  will  be  referred  to 
In  B.  iii.  c.  1  &  2,  but  which  cannot  be  fully  cleared  up  till  wc  know  more  of  the  Ifttto5 
forces  of  nature. 


16  ORDER   IN    RESPECT 

the  confident  expectation  that  there  would  be  found 
some  such  principle  of  order  which  led  that  ingenious 
and  persevering  sage  to  make  calculation  upon  calcula- 
tion, and  devise  one  hypothesis  after  another,  till,  after 
nineteen  unsuccessful  attempts,  his  fine  genius  and  his 
industry .  were  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  the  true 
laws  of  the  planetary  movements.  These  laws  are, — 
that  the  planets  move  in  orbits,  which  are  elliptical  in 
shape  ;  that  if  you  draw  a  line  from  the  planet  to  the 
sun,  the  areas  described  by  that  line  in  its  motion  round 
the  sun  are  proportional  to  the  times  employed  in  the 
motion ;  and  that  the  squares  of  the  periodic  times  are  as 
the  cubes  of  the  distances.  .  The  first  of  these  is  a  law  of 
forms,  the  other  two  are  laws  of  numbers.  The  dis- 
coveries of  Kepler  prepared  the  way  for  the  still  more 
important  ones  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  When  the  immor- 
tal work  of  this  greatest  of  inductive  philosophers  was 
published,  it  was  seen  that  the  laws  of  Kepler  were 
not  original  but  derivative  ;  but  the  original  law  now 
unfolded  belonged  to  the  same  class  ;  for  the  law  of 
gravitation,  the  best  established  and  the  most  univer- 
sally operative  law  yet  determined,  is  a  law  of  numbers. 
Turning  to  chemistry,  we  find  that  ever  since  it  emerged 
•as  a  science  there  has  been  a  constantly  renewed  attempt 
to  reduce  its  laws  to  a  numerical  expression.  The  only 
laws  which  can  be  reckoned  as  certainly  determined 
in  this  science  possess  this  character.  The  great  law 
which  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  the  compositions  and 
decompositions  of  substances,  is  that  of  definite  propor- 
tions for  equivalents,  as  expounded  by  Dalton.  In  the 
same  science  Gay  Lussac  discovered  an  arithmetical  law, 
regulating  the  combination  of  gaseous  substances,  which 
unite  in  very  simple  proportions,  according  to  volumes. 
Lest  it  should  be  thought  that  we  are  making  a  fanciful 


OF    NUMBER.  17 

reduction  of  the  operations  of  nature,  \vc  are  happy  to  be 
able  to  bring  to  our  aid  the  name  of  Sir  John  Herschel. 
"  Chemistry/'  says  he,  "  is,  in  a  most  pre-eminent  degree, 
a  science  of  quantity,  and  to  enumerate  the  discoveries 
which  have  risen  from  it  from  the  mere  determination 
of  weights  and  measures,  would  be  nearly  to  give  a 
synopsis  of  this  branch  of  knowledge.  We  need  only 
mention  the  law  of  definite  proportions  which  fixes  the 
composition  of  every  body  in  nature  in  determinate  pro- 
portional weights  of  its  ingredients.  Indeed,  it  is  a 
character  of  all  the  higher  laws  of  nature  to  assume  the 
form  of  a  precise  quantitative  statement.  Thus  the  law 
of  gravitation,  the  most  universal  truth  at  which  the 
human  reason  has  yet  arrived,  expresses  not  merely  the 
general  fact  of  the  mutual  attraction  of  all  matter,  not 
merely  the  vague  statement  that  its  influence  decreases 
as  the  distance  increases,  but  the  exact  numerical  rate 
at  which  that  increase  takes  place,  so  that  when  the 
amount  is  known  at  any  one  distance  it  may  be  calcu- 
lated exactly  for  any  other."*  Similar  language  is  used  by 
Humboldt : — "  The  progress  of  modern  physical  science 
is  especially  characterized  by  the  attainment  and  the 
rectification  of  the  mean  values  of  certain  quantities  by 
means  of  the  processes  of  weighing  and  measuring. 
And  it  may  be  said  that  the  only  remaining  and  widely 
diffused  hieroglyphic  characters  still  in  our  writing — 
numbers,  appear  to  us  again  as  powers  of  the  cosmos, 
although  in  a  wider  sense  than  that  applied  to  them  by 
the  Italian  school."f 

In  looking  at  other  departments  of  nature,  we  find 
similar  examples  of  numerical  order.     Thus,  ten  is  the 
typical   number   of  the  fingers  and  toes  of  man,  and, 
» 

*  Herschel's  Natural  Philosophy,  Art.  116. 
t  Cosmos,  translated  by  Otto,  vol.  1.  p.  64. 


18  ORDER  IN   RESPECT 

indeed,  of  the  digits  of  all  vertebrate  animals.  It  is 
also  a  curious,  though  perhaps  not  very  significant 
circumstance,  that  in  mammalia  seven  is  the  number  of 
vertebrae  in  the  neck,*  and  this  whether  it  be  long  as 
in  the  giraffe,  or  short  as  in  the  elephant,  whether  it  be 
flexible  as  in  the  camel,  or  firm  as  in  the  whale.  In 
the  vegetable  kingdom  we  find  that  two  is  the  prevailing 
number  in  the  lowest  division  of  plants,  the  acrogenous 
or  flowerless  ;  thus,  2,  4,  8,  16,  32,  64,  &c,  are  the  num- 
ber of  teeth  in  the  mouth  of  the  capsule  in  mosses. 
Three,  or  multiples  of  three,  is  the  typical  number  of 
the  next  class  of  plants,  the  monocotyledonous  or  endo- 
genous ;  and  five,  with  its  multiples,  is  the  prevailing 
number  in  the  highest  class,  the  dicotyledonous  or  exo- 
genous plants.  We  shall  shew,  as  we  advance,  that  a 
curious  series,  1,  2,  3,  5,  8,  13,  21,  34,  &c,  in  which  any 
two  numbers  added  together  give  the  succeeding  one, 
regulates  the  arrangement  of  the  leaf  appendages  of 
plants  generally,  and  in  particular  of  the  leaves  and  the 
scales  on  the  cones  of  firs  and  pines.  In  the  inflores- 
cence of  the  plant  we  find  that  the  outer  organs,  or 
sepals,  always  alternate  with  the  petals  which  are  next 
them,  and  that  the  whorl  of  organs  further  in,  namely, 
the  stamens,  is  generally  either  the  same  in  number  as 
the  petals,  or  some  multiple  of  them.  When  there  is 
an  exception  to  this  rule  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
there  has  been  some  abortion  of  the  stamens  ;  and  the 
traces  of  this  abortion  are  not  unfrequently  visible  in  the 
rudiments  of  the  organs  undeveloped. 

Secondly,  There  is  an  Order  in  Nature  in  respect 
of  Time. — It  is  obvious  that  all  such  laws  can  be  ex- 
pressed in  proportional  numbers,  taking  some  fixed  time 

*  Apparent  or  real  exceptions  will  be  referred  to  afterwards. 


OF    NUMBER    AND    TIME.  19 

as  a  unit.     But  we  are  here  introduced  to  a  new  funda- 
mental power,  deserving  of  being  put  under  a  separate 
head.     For  the  laws  of  which  we  are  now  to  speak  imply 
a  peculiar  arrangement  in  reference  to  time.     We  see 
the  principle  most  strikingly  exhibited  in  those  move- 
ments of  natural  objects  which  are  periodical.     No  doubt, 
there  is  some  disposition  of  physical  forces  necessary  to 
produce   this  periodicity ;    but   this  just   shews   all   the 
more  clearly  that  an  arrangement  has   been  made   to 
produce  the  regularity.     The  ancients  were  much  struck 
with  the  order  in  respect  of  time  of  the  celestial  motions. 
The  stars,  the  planets,  and  even  the  comets,  wero  seen  to 
perform  their  revolutions  in  certain  fixed  times.     Some 
of  them  seem  to  depart  from  this  rule  only  to  exemplify 
it   the   more'  strikingly,   for   their   irregularities,   which 
are  periodical,  are  as  methodical  as  their  more  uniform 
movements.     There   have   been   regular   epochs,    to   all 
appearance,  in  the  changes  on  the  earth's  surface,  and  in 
the   succession   of  plants  and  animals,  as  disclosed  by 
geological  science.     The  variations  of  magnetism  on  the 
earth's  surface  seem  to  be  periodical,  and  attempts  have 
been  made  of  late  to  connect  this  cycle  with  that  which 
the  spots  of  the  sun  are  known  to  follow.     There  is  a 
beautiful  progression,  as  shewn  by  the  science  of  embry- 
ology in  the  growth  of  the  young  animal  in  the  womb, 
and   the   whole   life  of  every  living  creature  is   for   an 
allotted   period.      The   plants   of  the   earth  have   their 
seasons  for  springing  up,  for  coming  to  maturity,  and 
bearing  flowers  and  seeds  ;  and  if  this  order  is  seriously 
interfered  with,  the  plant  will  sooner  or  later  be  incapable 
of  fulfilling  its  function.     Thus  the   hyacinth  may  be 
prematurely  hastened  into  flower  for  one  season,  but  the 
next  year  it  will  be  found  impossible  to  make  it  flower 
or  produce  seed.     In  this  way  great  natural  events,  and 


20  ORDER    IN    RESPECT 

especially  the  life  of  animals  and  plants,  the  movements 
of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the  eras  of  geology,  become 
to  us  the  measurers  of  time,  rearing  up  prominent  land- 
marks to  guide  us  as  we  would  make  excursions  into  the 
past  or  future,  and  dividing  it  for  our  benefit  into  days 
and  months,  and  seasons,  and  years,  and  epochs. 

Thirdly,  There  is  an  Order  in  respect  of  Colour 
running  through  Nature. — Colour  is  not  without  its 
significance  among  the  works  of  man.  Every  nation, 
every  regiment  has  its  distinctive  colours  upon  its  flags, 
which  are  its  visible  symbols  and  representatives.  Colour 
appears  as  a  peculiar  mark  on  the  stamps  impressed  by 
the  post-office,  and  on  many  of  our  public  conveyances. 
It  is  used  as  a  signal  by  sea  and  by  land,  in  our  ships 
and  on  our  -railways  ;  it  announces  danger  and  proclaims 
safety.  It  has  also,  we  are  convinced,  a  meaning  in 
nature.  It  has  been  far  too  generally  supposed  that 
colour  obeys  no  laws  in  natural  objects.  It  has  been  a 
very  common  impression,  that  it  is  spread  indiscrimi- 
nately over  the  surface  of  earth  and  sky,  animal  and 
plant.  We  are  sure  that  further  research  will  shew  that 
this  is  a  mistake.  It  is  true  that  colour  has  not  so  much 
value  as  form  and  structure  in  the  classification  of  plants 
and  animals.  Still,  we  find  that  some  tribes  of  alga?  are 
arranged  by  Harvey  according  to  their  colours,  and  that 
some  fungi  are  classified  by  Berkeley  according  to  the 
colours  of  their  minute  seeds.  We  are  convinced  that, 
amidst  all  the  apparent  irregularities,  there  will  be  found 
to  be  some  fixed  principles  in  the  distribution  of  colours 
in  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  and,  indeed,  over 
the  whole  surface  of  nature.  Seldom  or  never,  for  ex- 
ample, are  the  two  primary  colours,  blue  and  red,  found 
on  the  same  organ,  or  in  contact  on  the  same  plant 


OF   COLOUR   AND   FORM.  21 

Liable  to  certain  modifications,  which  are  limited,  it  is 
probable  that  there  is  a  fixed  distribution  of  colour  for 
many  families  of  animals  and  plants,  and  that  this  dis- 
tribution is  fixed  within  still  narrower  limits  for  tho 
species.  It  is  certain,  whether  we  are  or  are  not  able  to 
seize  it,  and  turn  it  to  any  scientific  or  practical  purpose, 
that  there  are  plan  and  system  in  the  arrangement  of 
colours  throughout  both  the  animal  and  vegetable  worlds. 
Every  dot  in  the  flower  comes  in  at  the  proper  place, 
every  tint  and  shade  and  hue  is  in  accordance  with  all 
that  is  contiguous  to  it.  We  shall  shew  at  considerable 
length  as  we  proceed,  that  the  distribution  of  colours  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom  is  in  beautiful  accordance  with 
the  now  established  laws  of  harmonious,  and  especially 
of  complementary  colours.  We  shall  likewise  point  out 
some  very  curious  and  interesting  relations  between  the 
forms  and  colours  of  plants.  The  eye  testifies,  too,  that 
there  is  an  order  in  respect  of  colour  in  the  decorations 
of  insects,  in  the  spots  and  stripes  of  wild  beasts,  and  in 
the  plumage  of  birds.  "He  who,"  says  Field,  "can 
regard  nature  with  the  intelligent  eye  of  the  colourist, 
has  a  boundless  source  of  never-ceasing  gratification 
arising  from  harmonies  and  accordances  which  are  lost 
to  the  untutored  eye." 

Fourthly,  There  is  an  Order  in  Nature  in  respect 
of  Form. — We  use  the  word  form  in  a  large  sense,  and 
as  including  not  only  figure,  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the 
term,  but  structure,  which  is  the  relation  or  connexion  of 
forms.  Great  attention  is  evidently  paid  to  this  quality 
in  the  construction  of  natural  objects.  It  appears  before 
us  as  a  significant  element  in  every  department  of  nature. 
The  planets,  with  their  satellites,  have  a  definite  spher- 
oidal shape,  and  they  move  in  orbits  which  have  a  cer- 


22  ORDER   IN    RESPECT 

tain  outline  in  space,  namely,  the  elliptic.  It  is  because 
strict  regard  is  paid  to  this  principle  in  the  structure  of 
the  universe,  that  the  science  which  treats  of  forms,  that 
is,  geometry,  admits  of  an  application  to  so  many  of  the 
objects  and  arrangements  of  nature.  And  here  it  is 
worthy  of  being  noted  that  the  ancient  geometers,  from 
a  general  idea  of  the  importance  of  forms,  had  carefully 
investigated  the  properties  of  those  figures  called  the 
Conic  Sections,  (because  capable  of  being  produced  by 
sections  of  the  cone,)  at  a  time  when  no  very  important 
application  could  be  made  of  the  propositions  established 
by  them.  When  Kepler  discovered  that  the  planets 
moved  in  elliptic  orbits,  the  properties  of  the  ellipse,  un- 
folded so  many  centuries  before  by  Apollonius  and  others, 
were  ready  to  be  applied  to  the  solution  of  a  host  of  im- 
portant questions  connected  with  the  movements  of  the 
celestial  bodies.  It  is  instructive  to  notice  that  the 
clusters  of  stars  revealed  by  telescopes  of  great  power, 
shew  regular  forms,  some  of  them  being  round,  and  a 
number  of  them  having  apparently  a  spiral  tendency. 

In  the  mineral  kingdom,  we  find  forms  playing  an 
important  part.  In  circumstances  admitting  of  the  ope- 
ration, most  (if  not  all)  minerals  crystallize — that  is, 
assume  regular  forms.  These  forms  are  mathematically 
exact  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Every  perfect  crystal  is 
bounded  by  plane  surfaces,  its  sides  are  parallel  to  each 
other,  and  the  angles  made  by. its  sides  are  invariable. 
Each  mineral  assumes  certain  crystalline  forms,  and  no 
others.  These  forms  have  now  an  important  place 
allotted  to  them  in  the  classification  of  minerals.  They 
have  been  expressively  designated  the  geometry  of 
nature. 

But  it  is  among  organized  objects  that  we  find  form 
assuming  the  highest   significance.     Every  living  object 


OF   FORM.  23 

composed  though  it  be  of  a  number,  commonly  a  vast 
number  and  complication  of  parts,  takes,  as  a  whole,  a 
definite  shape,  and  there  is  likewise  a  normal  shape  for 
each  of  its  organs.  The  general  or  normal  form  which 
any  particular  tribe  of  plants  or  animals  assumes,  is 
called  its  type.  Animals  and  vegetables,  it  is  well  known, 
are  classified  according  to  type  ;  and  they  can  be  so 
arranged,  because  types  are  really  found  in  nature,  and 
are  not  the  mere  creation  of  human  reason  or  fancy.  It 
is  because  attention  is  paid  to  type,  and  because  it  is  so 
fixed  and  universal,  that  it  is  possible  to  arrange  into 
groups  the  innumerable  natural  objects  by  which  we  are 
surrounded.  Without  some  such  principles  of  unity  to 
guide  him,  man  would  have  felt  himself  lost,  as  in  a 
forest,  among  the  works  of  God,  and  this  because  of  their 
very  multiplicity  and  variety.  In  some  cases  the  forms 
assumed  by  organic  objects  are  mathematically  regular. 
A  series  of  beautiful  rhomboidal  figures,  with  definite 
angles,  may  be  observed  on  the  surface  of  the  cones  of 
pines  and  firs.  It  may  be  noticed,  too,  how  the  leaves 
and  branches  of  the  plant  are  placed  round  the  axis  in 
sets  of  spirals.  The  spiral  structure  is  also  very  evident 
both  in  the  turbinated  and  discoid  shells  of  molluscs. 
Mr.  Mosely  has  shewn  that  the  size  of  the  whorls,  and 
the  distance  between  contiguous  whorls,  in  these  shells, 
follow  a  geometrical  progression  ;  and  the  spiral  formed 
is  the  logarithmic,  of  which  it  is  a  property,  that  it  has 
everywhere  the  same  geometrical  curvature,  and  is  the 
only  curve,  except  the  circle,  which  possesses  this  pro- 
perty. Following  this  law,  the  animal  winds  its  dwell- 
ing in  a  uniform  direction  through  the  space  round  its 
axis.  "  There  is  traced/'  says  Mr.  Mosely,  "in  the  shell, 
the  application  of  properties  of  a  geometric  curve  to  a 
mechauieal  purpose,  by  Him  who  metes  the  dimensions 


24  ORDER  IN   RESPECT 

of  space,  and  stretches  out  the  forms  of  matter  according 
to  the  rules  of  a  perfect  geometry."*  We  are  reminded 
of  the  ancient  Platonic  maxim,  that  Deity  proceeds  by 
geometry. 

The  lower  tribes  of  animals  and  plants  often  assume 
mathematically  regular  forms,  such  as  the  triangular, 
p*olygonal,  cylindrical,  spherical,  and  elliptical.  It  is 
seldom,  however,  that  we  meet  with  such  rigid  mathe- 
matical figures  in  the  outline  of  the  higher  orders  of 
organic  beings.  Those  who  have  any  sense  of  beauty  will 
be  grateful  that  trees  are  not  triangular,  that  animals  are 
not  circular  in  their  outline  ;  in  short,  that  they  have  not 
taken  any  such  painfully  exact  shape.  Still,  the  forms 
of  organic  objects — such  as  the  sweep  of  the  veins  of 
leaves  and  the  outline  of  trees — though  more  flowing  and 
waving,  are  evidently  regular  curves.  There  is  truth,  we 
suspect,  in  a  favourite  maxim  of  Oersted,  "that  inorganic 
beings  constitute  the  elementary,  and  organic  the  higher 
geometry  of  nature/' 

Besides  the  typical  resemblances  which  enable  us  to 
classify  plants  and  animals,  and  the  beautiful  curves 
which  do  so  gratify  the  contemplative  intellect,  there  are 
certain  correspondences  in  the  structure  of  organs  which 
seem  to  us  to  be  especially  illustrative  of  a  plan  intelli- 
gently devised  and  systematically  pursued.  At  an  early 
date,  these  struck  the  attention  of  persons  addicted,  to 
deep  reflection,  but  it  is  only  within  these  few  years  that 
they  have  been  scientifically  investigated  and  expounded. 
Aristotle  noticed  the  correspondence  between  the  hands 
of  man,  the  fore-limbs  of  mammals,  and  the  wings  of 
birds,  and  between  the  limbs  of  these  animals  and  the 
fins  of  fishes,  and  spoke  of  it  as  an  interesting  species  of 

*  See  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1838. 
t  Soul  of  Nature,  IToruer's  translations,  p.  348 


OF    FORM.  25 

analogy,  (*«?'  <i/«Aoj*m».)  The  profound  mind  of  New- 
ton used  to  muse  upon  the  symmetry  of  the  animal 
frame  :  "  Similiter  posita  omnia  in  omnibus  fere  anima- 
libus."  These  correspondences,  so  far  as  vertebrate  and 
certain  portions  of  invertebrate  animals  are  concerned, 
have  now  been  examined  with  great  care,  and  we  have  a 
set  of  well-defined  phrases  to  explain  them. 

A  homologue  is  defined  as  the  same  organ  in  different 
animals,  under  every  variety  of  form  and  function.  Thus 
the  arms  and  feet  of  man,  the  fore  and  hind  feet  of 
quadrupeds,  the  wings  and  feet  of  birds,  and  the  fins  of 
fishes,  are  said  to  be  all  homologous. 

The  corresponding  or  serially  repeated  parts  in  the 
same  animal  are  called  liomotypes.  Thus  the  fingers 
and  toes  of  man,  indeed  the  fore  and  hind  limbs  of  ver- 
tebrate animals  generally,  are  said  to  be  homotypal. 

The  phrase  analogue  has  been  reserved  for  another 
curious  correspondence,  found  both  in  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms.  By  an  analogue  is  meant  an  organ 
in  one  animal  having  the  same  function  as  a  different 
organ  in  a  different  animal.  The  difference  between 
homologue  and  analogue  may  be  illustrated  by  the  wing 
of  a  bird  and  that  of  a  butterfly ;  as  the  two  totally 
differ  in  anatomical  structure,  they  cannot  be  said  to  be 
homologous,  but  they  are  analogous  in  function,  since 
they  both  serve  for  flight.* 

These  phrases,  and  the  ideas  on  which  they  are  founded, 
have  taken  their  rise  from  the  animal  kingdom.  But 
similar,  though  by  no  means  identical,  correspondences 
have  been  detected  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  The 
branch  of  botanical  science  which  treats  of  the  forms  of 
plants  is  called  morphology,  and  is  now  regarded  as  the 

*  See  Owen  on  Homologies  of  Vertebrate  Skeleton,  p.  7 ;  and  Agnssiz  and  Gonld'a 
Comparative  Physiology,  p.  5,  where  the  terms  are  affinities  and  analogues. 

2 


26  ORDER  IN   RESPECT 

fundamental  department  of  botany.  We  shall  shew,  as 
we  proceed,  that  comparative  anatomy  and  vegetable 
morphology  supply  illustrations,  at  once  copious  and 
striking,  of  an  all-prevailing  order  in  nature  in  respect 
of  form  or  structure. 

As  this  order  of  facts  comes  before  us,  we  shall  see  that 
science,  in  its  latest  advances,  is  fulfilling  some  of  the  an- 
ticipations of  large-minded  observers  and  deep  thinkers, 
who,  in  earlier  and  unsophisticated  times,  looked  upon 
nature  with  a  fresh  eye,  and  believed  in  the  existence  of 
a  profound  plan  in  it,  when  they  were  not  able  to  give 
a  scientific  reason  for  their  conviction.  Systematic 
research  is  only  coming  up  in  these  later  years  to  the 
native  beliefs  and  expectations  which  sages  entertained 
from  the  beginning.  But  there  are  these  important 
differences  between  the  early  glimpses  and  the  later  dis- 
coveries : — that  what  was  at  first  guess  and  vaticination, 
has  become  demonstration  ;  that  what  was  at  first  a 
mixture  of  fact  and  speculation  has  become,  by  the 
inductive  methods  of  weighing  and  measuring  every 
phenomenon,  unadulterated  truth  ;  and  we  may  add, 
that  the  realities  disclosed  by  science  far  transcend  in 
grandeur  and  true  dignity  the  loftiest  musings  of  the 
profoundest  sages  or  the  most  brilliant  speculators. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  recent  discoveries  as  to  a 
harmony  of  structure  running  through  the  whole  organic 
kingdoms  have  been  turned  by  some  to  improper  pur- 
poses. The  famous  G-erman  poet,  Goethe,  who  did  so 
much  by  his  doctrine  that  all  the  appendages  of  the 
plant  are  leaves,  or  transformed  leaves,  (he  should  have 
said,  formed  after  the  same  model  as  the  leaf,)  to  found 
a  scientific  botany,  has  not  defined  his  religious  creed 
(we  rather  think  he  could  not  define  it)  ;  but  it  is  evident 
that  he  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  look  upon  nature  as 


OF    FORM.  27 

the  work  of  a  personal  God.  The  celebrated  French  com- 
parative anatomist,  Geoffrey  St.  Hilaire,  who  laboured 
so  effectually  to  prove  that  there  is  a  unity  of  composi- 
tion in  the  animal  structure,  unfortunately  (though  no 
atheist)  speaks  in  a  contemptuous  manner  of  final  cause.* 
Lorcnz  Oken,  who  propounded  the  idea  that  the  skull  is 
a  vertebrate  column,  (he  should  have  said  that  the  skull 
is  formed  after  the  same  model  as  the  back-bone,)  was  a 
pantheist,  and  sought,  in  a  mystical  rhapsodical  manner, 
to  find  the  beginnings  of  existence  and  of  life  without 
calling  in  a  living  or  a  personal  God.f  Yet  the  ideas 
which  these  men  expounded,  after  being  first  denied  and 
then  modified  and  improved,  have  received  the  all  but 
universal  consent  of  scientific  inquirers.  Admitted,  as 
they  now  are,  among  the  established  generalizations  of 
science,  and  constituting,  as  they  do,  the  most  brilliant 
discoveries  in  natural  history  of  the  past  age,  they  cannot 
be  overlooked  in  a  natural  theology  suited  to  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  If  they  are  hostile — as  we 
believe  they  are  not — to  the  cause  of  religion,  then  let 
their  exact  force  and  bearing  be  measured  ;  and  if  they 
are  favourable  to  theology,  natural  and  revealed, — as  we 
hope  to  be  able  to  shew  that  they  are,  when  properly 
interpreted,- — then  they  require  from  their  number  and 
value,  to  have  a  very  prominent  place  allotted  to  them. 
We  have  here  a  class  of  phenomena  to  which  Paley  has 
never  once  alluded  in  his  Natural  Theology,  and  which 
are  referred  to  only  in  an  incidental  manner,  and  with- 
out their  meaning  being  apprehended,  in  one  or  two  pas- 
sages of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises.^     The   authors   of 

*  See  Vie,  Travaux,  et  Doctrine  Scientiflque  d*E.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  par  son  Fils, 
c.  ix. 
t  See  Ph  sio-Philosophy,  passim. 

t  Dr.  M'Cosh  attempted  this  in  an  article  in  the  North  British  Review,  for  August 
351,  of  which  this  troatiso  may  bo  considered  as  an  expansion. 


28  ORDER   IN   EESPECT 

these  works  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  this  omission,  for 
in  "their  day  the  facts  had  not  been  discovered,  or,  at 
least,  admitted  into  acknowledged  science.  But  now 
that  they  have  taken  their  place,  and  that  a  very  high 
place,  among  settled  doctrines,  it  is  time  to  examine 
their  religious  import  and  tendency.  They  will  be 
found  not  to  be  isolated  or  exceptional  in  their  character, 
but  to  belong  to  a  large  and  wide-spread  class,  possessing 
a  deep  theological  signification. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  these  facts  do  of  themselves 
prove  that  there  is  a  living  and  personal  God,  clothed 
with  every  perfection.  But  they  are  fitted  to  deliver  us 
from  several  painful  and  degrading  notions,  which  may 
be  suggested  by  the  human  heart  in  times  of  unbelief, 
or  by  persons  who  have  been  lost  in  a  labyrinth  built  by 
themselves,  and  who  are  not  unwilling  that  others  should 
become  as  bewildered  as  they  are.  They  prevent  us 
from  feeling  that  we,  and  all  things  else,  are  the  mere 
sport  of  chance,  ever  changing  its  procedure,  without 
reason  and  without  notice,  or,  what  is  still  more  dreadful, 
that  we  may  be  crushed  beneath  the  chariot  wheels  of  a 
stern  and  relentless  fate,  moving  on  without  design  and 
without  end.  They  shew  us  what  certainly  looks  very 
like  a  method  pursued  diligently  and  systematically — 
very  like  a  plan  designed  for  some  grand  end,  so  very- 
like  it  that  it  behoves  the  sceptic  to  take  upon  himself 
the  burden  of  demonstrating  that  it  can  be  anything 
else.  Taken  along  with  their  proper  complement,  the 
special  adaptation  of  parts,  they  exhibit  to  us  an  enlarged 
wisdom,  which  prosecutes  its  plans  methodically,  com- 
bined with  a  minute  care,  which  provides  for  every 
object  and  every  part  of  that  object.  Conjoined  with 
higher  considerations,  and,  in  particular,  with  certain 
Internal  principles,  which  have  the  sanction  of  the  very 


OF   FORM.  29 

constitution  of  our  minds,*  they  disclose  to  our  faith  a 
God  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  who 
hath  from  the  first  instituted  the  plan  to  which  all  indi- 
vidual things  and  events  have  ever  since  been  conformed. 
These  objects  so  regularly  constructed,  and  modes  of 
procedure  so  systematic,  fill  the  mind,  and  prepare  us,  if 
they  do  no  more,  to  wait  for  the  disclosure  of  a  loving 
being  who  may  fill  the  heart.  For  the  intellect  is  not 
satisfied  with  contemplating,  unless  the  heart  be  at  the 
same  time  satisfied  with  loving.  It  is  the  grand  mistake 
of  not  a  few  gifted  men,  in  these  latter  ages  when  physical 
nature  is  so  much  studied,  to  imagine  that  the  order  and 
loveliness  of  the  universe,  its  forces,  its  mechanism,  its 
laws,  its  well-fitted  proportions,  will  of  themselves  satisfy 
the  soul.  It  will  be  found  that  all  these,  however  fondly 
dwelt  on,  must,  in  the  end,  leave  the  same  melancholy 
and  disappointed  feeling,  as  the  sight  of  a  noble  mansion 
doomed  to  remain  for  ever  tenantless — unless  they  lead 
on  to  love,  and  such  love  as  can  only  be  felt  towards  a 
living  and  loving  God. 

*  See  article  on  Theistic  Argument,  in  Appendix  to  Method  of  Divine  Government, 
'ourth  edition. 


CHAPTER    II. 

NATURE  OF  THE  SPECIAL  ADJUSTMENTS. 

SECT.    I. NEED    OF   SPECIAL   ADJUSTMENTS    IN     ORDER   TO   THE 

BENEFICENT    OPERATION    OF   THE   FORCES    OF   NATURE. 

"  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law,"  and  the  second  is  like 
unto  it,  that  everything  serves  an  end.  This  is  the  sum 
of  all  science.  These  are  the  two  mites,  even  all  that 
she  hath,  which  she  throws  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord ; 
and  as  she  does  so  in  faith,  Eternal  Wisdom  looks  on 
and  commends  the  deed.  As  the  separate  physical 
sciences  advance,  they  will  necessitate  the  rise  of  com- 
bining sciences  to  collect  their  separate  truths  ;  and  this 
they  may  best  be  able  to  do  under  the  two  heads  of  order 
and  special  end.  The  science  which  treats  of  a  certain 
important  department  of  the  first  of  these  has  already  a 
suitable  name  allotted  to  it,  and  is  called  Homology. 
But  we  need  a  word  to  embrace  the  whole,  and  we  pro- 
pose that  this  be  Cosmology — that  is,  the  Science  of  the 
Order  in  the  Universe.  We  are  aware  that  this  term  has 
been  unfortunately  devoted  to  an  unattainable  inquiry, 
which  would  penetrate  into  the  origin  of  worlds  ;  but 
this  makes  us  the  more  anxious  to  rescue  so  excellent  a 
phrase  from  so  degraded  a  use,  and  give  it  a  profitable 
application.  The  other  general  science  has  already  an 
admirable  name  appropriated  to  it  in  Teleology,  or  the 
Science  of  Special  Ends. 


NEED    OF    SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS.  31 

Physical  science,  at  its  present  advanced  stage,  seems 
to  be  at  one  with  the  Word  of  God,  in  representing  all 
nature  as  in  a  state  of  constant  change,  but  with  prin- 
ciples of  order  instituted  in  order  to  secure  its  stability. 
"  One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another  gene- 
ration   COMETH  :     BUT    THE    EARTH    ABIDETH    FOR   EVER. 

The  sun  also  ariseth,  and  the  sun  goeth  down,  and 
hasteth  to  his  place  where  he  arose.  the  wind 
goeth  toward  the  south,  and  turneth  about  unto 
the  north  ;  it  whirleth  about  continually,  and 
the  wind  returneth  again  according  to  his  circuits. 
All  the  rivers  run  into  the  sea  :  yet  the  sea  is  not 
full  ;  unto  the  place  from  whence  the  rivers  come, 
thither  they  return  again.  all  things  are  full 
of  labour  ;  man  cannot  utter  it  :  the  eye  is  not  sa- 
tisfied with  seeing,  nor  the  ear  filled  with  hear- 
ING/' There  seems  to  be  no  such  thing  as  absolute  rest 
in  nature.  We  are  impressed  with  the  fickleness  of  the 
winds  and  the  restlessness  of  the  waves  ;  but  the  truth 
is,  every  other  object  is  infected  with  the  same  love  of 
change.  There  is  probably  no  one  body  in  precisely  the 
same  state  in  every  respect  for  two  successive  instants. 
We  think  that  we  are  stationary,  but,  in  fact,  we  are  being 
swept  through  space  at  a  rate  which  it  dizzies  the  ima- 
gination to  contemplate.  Every  object  in  nature  seems 
to  have  a  work  to  do,  and  it  lingers  not,  as  it  moves  on, 
in  the  execution  of  its  office.  It  exists  in  one  state  and 
in  one  place  this  instant,  but  it  is  changing  meanwhile, 
and  next  instant  it  is  found  in  another  state  or  in  another 
place.  But  there  is  an  equilibrium  established  among 
these  ever  moving  forces,  and  the  processes  of  nature  are 
made  like  the  wind,  to  return  according  to  their  circuits. 
So  far  as  inductive  science  has  been  able  to  penetrate, 
it  would  appear  that  the  active  physical  powers  of  the 


32  NEED    OF    SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS 

universe  consist  of  a  number  of  forces,  or  rather,  we 
should  say,  properties,  each  with  its  own  tendency  or  rule 
of  action,  and  yet  all  intimately  connected  the  one  with 
the  other,  that  is,  correlated.  I  wave  my  hand  in  the 
air,  and  in  doing  so,  I  set  mechanical  power  a-working. 
"  The  motion,"  says  Mr.  Grove,  "  which  has  apparently 
ceased,  is  taken  up  by  the  air,  from  the  air  by  the  walls 
of  the  room,  &c,  and  so,  by  direct  and  reacting  waves,  con- 
tinually comminuted  but  never  destroyed."*  The  produc- 
tion of  mechanical  power  may  be  more  distinctly  seen  if 
the  hand  is  employed  to  move  a  machine.  Mechanical 
power,  it  is  well  known,  generates  heat,  and  this  heat, 
according  to  Mr.  Joule,  is  in  proportion  to  the  mechanical 
power  exercised.  Heat  may  lead  to  chemical  action,  as 
when  bodies  are  decomposed  by  a  rise  in  the  temperature. 
Chemical  action  is  always  accompanied  by  electricity, 
and  electricity  may  produce  light  or  galvanism  or  mag- 
netism. Galvanism,  again,  may  have  an  effect  on  nervous 
or  muscular  action,  and  muscular  action  may  produce 
mechanical  power.  Thus  we  have  the  various  known 
(or  rather,  perhaps  we  should  say,  unknown)  forces  pro- 
ducing or  exciting  each  other,  according  to  laws  which 
have  not  yet  been  fully  determined.  Nay,  if  we  turn  in 
upon  the  organism  itself  we  shall  find  traces  of  a. similar 
circuit.  For  whence  the  muscular  action  that  origi- 
nated the  actions  which  we  have  mentioned  ?  Tracing  it 
inwards,  we  find  it  conducting  us  to  the  nerves  and  the 
brain.  But  the  brain  is  not  an  inexhaustible,  nor  is  it  a 
sell-filled  fountain  of  physical  power ;  on  the  contrary, 
if  exercised  in  excess  it  becomes  deranged  in  all  its  func- 
tions, or  exhausted.  In  order  to  restoration  of  power,  it 
needs,  as  every  one  knows,  nightly  rest,  and  also  suste- 
nance ;  and,  on  inquiring  into  the  source  of  this  suste- 

*  Grove's  Correlation  of  Physical  Forces,  2d  edit.,  p.  17. 


IN    ORDER    TO    THE    OPERATIONS    OF    NATURE.  33 

nance,  we  find  that  it  is  derived  from  without,  from 
animals  and  plants.  Again,  animals  are  fed,  by  other 
animals  and  by  plants,  and  plants  by  unorganized  matter. 
The  circuits  are  thus  made  to  include  all  physical  powers, 
organic  and  inorganic.  All  these  forces,  distinct  from 
each  other,  (so  far  as  we  know,)  but  intimately  correlated, 
are  made  to  balance  each  other,  and  to  run  in  circles.* 

We  have  introduced  these  generalized  facts,  which  are 
independent  of  all  speculations  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
physical  forces,  for  the  purpose  of  shewing  that  these 
natural  powers  are  all  blind  in  themselves,  and  require  an 
arrangement  to  be  made — and  this  arrangement  must 
proceed  from  intelligence — in  order  to  their  beneficial 
action.  Heat,  light,  electric  action,  chemical  composi- 
tion and  decomposition,  organic  affection — these  are 
among  the  most  powerful  instruments  of  good  in  our 
world,  but  they  become  the  most  potent  means  of  inflict- 
ing evil.  In  their  bearings  towards  animate  objects 
capable  of  pleasure  and  pain,  they  may  all  be  benignant,, 
but  they  also  spread  misery  and  destruction.  There  is. 
obvious  need  of  a  disposing  mind  to  cause  these  various 
forces  to  act  in  harmony,  and  to  issue  in  wise  and  bene- 
volent results.  "Elements,"  says  Faraday,  '-the  most 
seemingly  unmanageable  and  discordant,  are  made  to 
watch  like  ministering  angels  around  us — each  perform- 
ing tranquilly  its  destined  function,  moving  through  all 

*  It  is  to  be  specially  noticed,  however,  that  there  has  been  a  power  here  exercised 
which  is  not  thus  dependent  on  the  others.  We  refer  to  the  mental  power  which  willed 
the  bodily  action.  The  oldest  definition  of  mind  represents  it  as  essentially  a  self-moving 
power.  We  mast  ever  set  ourselves  against  the  idea  maintained  by  smne,  that  mental 
power  is  correlated  to  the  physical  and  vital  forces,  as  these  are  correlated  to  each  other. 
We  never  can  believe  that  the  devotedncss  of  the  patriot,  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  the 
martyr,  or  the  heroism  which  resists  bribe  and  temptation,  are  capable  of  being  excited 
by  heal,  light,  and  magnetism,  in  the  same  way  as  these  can  be  excited  by  each  other. 
But  still  it  is  true  that  miud,  we  mean  the  human  mind,  can  merely  direct  physical 
force:  it  cannot  create  or  originate  it,  it  can  merely  turn  it  this  way  or  that;  but  this 
power  exists  prior  to  any  mental  effort  being  directed  towards  it,  and  when  it  is  set 
a-working,  by  the  needful  conditions  being  supplied,  it  follows  it  own  laws. 

2* 


34  NEED    OF    SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS 

the  varying  phases  of  decomposition,  decay,  and  death — 
then  springing  into  new  life,  assuming  new  forms,  resting 
in  passive  inactivity,  or  assuming  the  extreme  of  violence, 
according  as  either  may  be  suited  to  accomplish  the  ap- 
pointed end."* 

It  will  be  necessary  at  this  place  to  state  an  important 
distinction  which  Dr.  Chalmers  had  the  merit  of  intro- 
ducing into  natural  theology  in  a  formal  manner,  f  He 
calls  on  us  to  notice  how,  the  laws  of  matter  being  as  they 
are,  the  results  might  have  been  different  if  a  different 
set  of  collocations  had  been  made  of  the  bodies  obeying 
these  laws.  Thus  the  law  of  gravitation  still  being  as  it 
is,  the  planetary  bodies  would  have  been  moving  in  a 
very  different  manner  from  what  they  do,  had  they  been 
differently  situated  in  reference  to  the  sun  and  to  one 
another.  Had  they  not,  for  example,  revolved  in  nearly 
one  plane,  they  might  in  their  revolutions  have  come  into 
violent  and  destructive  collision  with  each  other.  This 
is  prevented  by  their  being  so  disposed  that  their  spheres 
can  never  intersect  each  other,  that  is,  by  their  skilful 
collocation.  Dr.  Chalmers  thinks  that  the  argument  in 
favour  of  the  existence  of  Grod  should  be  founded  on  the 
collocations  of  matter  rather  than  the  laws  of  matter. 

The  distinction  is  undoubtedly  a  sound  one.  In  all 
discussions  as  to  the  material  universe,  we  must  set  out 
with  assuming  the  existence  of  body  occupying  space 
and  exercising  force,  or  rather  active  property.  Now,  it 
may  be  admitted  that  it  is  doubtful,  to  say  the  least  of 

*  Faraday's  Lectures  on  Non-Metallic  Elements. 

t  Reference  had  no  doubt  been  made  to  it  before,  as  when  Paley  (Nat.  Theol.,  c.  iii.) 
says,  "  I  speak  not  of  the  laws  themselves,  but  such  laws  being  fixed,  the  construction  In 
both  cases  is  adapted  to  them."  But  we  owe  the  systematic  announcement  and  expo- 
sition of  it  to  the  eminent  Christian  philosopher  we  have  named.  It  is  developed  with  his 
usual  amplitude  of  illustration  in  his  Bridgewatcr  Treatise  and  in  his  Nataral  Theology. 
A  distinguished  living  writer  who  has  done  much  towards  introducing  clearness  into  the 
logic  of  physical  science,  has  adopted  it,  and  made  some  new  applications  of  it.  Sfie 
Will's  Logic,  vol.  i.  p.  529,  2d  edit. 


IN   ORDER   TO   THE   OPERATIONS   OF   NATURE.  35 

it,  whether  we  are  entitled  to  argue  that  the  mere  exten- 
sion of  matter,  that  is,  the  circumstance  that  it  occupies 
space,  implies  that  it  has  been  created.  It  might  be 
further  allowed,  without  any  prejudice  to  the  argument 
in  behalf  of  the  Divine  existence,  that  the  mere  posses- 
sion of  active  properties  does  not  prove,  in  a  manner 
convincing  to  every  one,  that  matter  has  been  formed  by 
an  intelligent  being.  The  opponent,  whether  inclined  to 
materialism  or  pantheism,  might  urge  that  in  contem- 
plating the  material  world  merely  as  exercising  force  and 
capable  of  motion,  we  are  not  imperatively  called  to  sup- 
pose anything  else  than  that  power,  be  it  a  material  thing, 
or  be  it  a  spiritual  thing  (as  the  pantheist  maintains), 
resides  in  the  bodily  substance  itself.  The  argument  of 
the  pantheist,  as  against  the  materialist,  would  no  doubt 
be  overwhelming  in  such  a  case.  The  pantheist  would 
be  able  to  shew  without  difficulty  that  in  the  exercise  of 
chemical,  electric,  luminiferous,  calorific,  and  vital  force, 
there  is  vastly  more  than  mere  extension  or  dead  matter, 
and  this  he  would  call  spiritual  power.  But  all  this  does 
not  tend  to  prove  that  this  spiritual  power  (so  called)  is 
of  the  nature  of  Intelligence,  compassing  an  end  by 
means  employed  for  the  purpose.  When  we  have  estab- 
lished on  other  grounds,  the  existence  of  a  Divine  or 
even  of  a  spiritual  being,  it  might  then  be  reasonably 
maintained  that  these  physical  powers,  which  have  been 
shewn  of  late  years  to  be  more  wonderful  than  men  ever 
supposed  them  to  be  before,  are  not  independent  of  the 
Divine  Power,  but  are  rather  one  of  the  expressions  of  it. 
But  when  we  are  proving  the  being  of  a  God,  it  might 
not  be  prudent  to  peril  the  whole  argument  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  exercise  of  active  power  implies  an  intelli- 
gent and  a  personal  God.  It  might  be  safer,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  to  argue  the  existence  of  Intelligence,  not  from 


36  NEED    OF    SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS 

matter  considered  simply  as  extended  or  as  possessed  of 
force,  but  from  the  material  universe  as  it  actually  pre- 
sents itself,  with  its  graceful  forms,  its  lovely  colours,  its 
skilful  adjustments,  and  harmonious  laws.  There  are 
questions  agitated  in  the  present  day  in  regard  to  the 
precise  nature  of  the  physical  forces  which  strict  induc- 
tive science  is  not  yet  prepared  to  settle,  and  there  have 
been  questions  started  as  to  the  potency  of  matter  in 
itself,  which,  in  our  opinion,  the  human  intellect  cannot 
very  satisfactorily  answer,  and  which  may  at  least  be 
answered  in  more  than  one  way  by  different  parties,  with 
views  and  principles  all  equally  favourable  to  religion. 

It  seems  more  than  probable  that  the  very  original 
properties  of  matter,  whatever  they  be,  have  a  rule,  a  law, 
so  constituted  as  to  suit  them  admirably  to  the  purposes 
to  be  served  by  them  in  the  universe.  But  this  cannot 
be  conclusively  demonstrated  till  we  have  reached  the 
ultimate  properties  of  matter ;  and  we  are  not  certain 
that  we  have  found  any  one  of  the  original  forces  of  na- 
ture. The  law  of  universal  gravitation  and  the  law  of 
chemical  affinity  might  seem  to  approach  the  nearest  to 
simple  and  unresolvable  powers  ;  but  the  illustrious  dis- 
coverer of  gravitation  did  not  look  upon  it  as  an  essential 
or  ultimate  property  of  matter,  and  Dalton  represented 
chemical  proportions  as  resulting  from  the  size  of  the 
elementary  atoms,  and  in  the  present  day  an  eminent 
scientific  man  has  proposed  to  resolve  gravitation  into  a 
simpler  property  with  a  collocation  suited  to  it ;  while 
chemists  generally  are  by  no  means  inclined  to  affirm 
dogmatically  that  we  know  the  original  power  from  which 
the  phenomena  of  the  combination  of  bodies  proceed. 
Were  we  at  liberty  to  assume  that  these  are  ultimate 
properties,  it  might  not  be  difficult  to  shew  that  there  is 
a  beautiful  correspondence  between  the  law  of  gravitation 


IN    ORDER    TO    THE    OPERATIONS    OF    NATURE.  37 

and  the  mundane  system  through  which  it  operates,  and 
between  the  relations  of  the  various  chemical  equivalents. 
But  as  we  are  not  sure  that  we  have  gone  down  to  the 
fundamental  properties  of  matter,  all  that  we  can  argue 
is,  that  if  the  adaptations  do  not  consist  in  the  adjustment 
of  the  original  law  to  the  objects,  they  must  consist  in 
the  adjustment  of  the  objects  to  that  law.  The  truth 
seems  to  be,  that  they  consist  in  the  adjustment  of  the 
one  to  the  other  by  Him  who  instituted  both. 

But  by  no  process  can  we  get  rid  of  these  original 
adjustments.  There  is  need,  as  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill  says,  not 
only  of  a  law  of  causation,  but  of  a  collocation  of  causes, 
and  this  collocation  he  shews  "  cannot  be  reduced  to  any 
law,"  that  is,  any  natural  law.  With  him,  therefore,  it 
is  an  ultimate  fact  of  which  he  can  make  nothing. 
"  We  not  only,"  he  says,":>  "  do  not  know  of  any  reason 
why  the  sun's  attraction  and  the  tangential  force  co-exist 
in  the  exact  proportion  they  do,  but  we  can  trace  no  co- 
incidence between  it  and  the  proportions  in  which  any 
other  elementary  powers  in  the  universe  are  intermingled." 
But  this  we  can  clearly  perceive,  that  if  these  proportions 
and  coincidences  had  been  different,  there  would  have 
been  confusion  throughout  the  universe  ;  that  if  the  cen- 
tripetal force  had  been  proportionally  greater,  the  earth 
and  all  the  planets  would  have  been  drawn  into  the  body 
of  the  sun  ;  and  that  if  the  centrifugal  force  had  been 
much  increased,  the  earth  would  have  wandered  into 
regions  so  far  from  the  sun  that  all  living  beings  must 
have  perished.  The  beauty  and  fitness  of  "these  coinci- 
dences and  proportions  compel  us  to  see,  that  though 
they  do  not  proceed  from  natural  law,  they  must  proceed 
from  an  Intelligence  planning  all  things,  and  the  rela- 
tions of  things,  from  the  beginning. 

*  Mill's  Logic,  vol.  ii.  p,  44, 


38  NEED    Of    SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS 

Taking  these  principles  along  with  us,  we  are  entitled 
to  say  that  mutual  adjustments  are  necessary  in  order 
not  only  to  individual  effects  of  a  beneficent  character, 
but  also  to  those  general  results  of  an  orderly  description, 
which  are  very  commonly  and  very  properly  called  laws 
of  nature.  We  call  the  general  facts  observed  by  Kepler 
laws,  but  they  are  evidently  the  result  of  the  relation  of 
the  planets  to  the  sun,  and  of  their  centripetal  to  their 
centrifugal  tendency.  We  talk  of  the  law  of  the  plant 
according  to  which  it  springs  up,  assumes  certain  forms, 
bears  leaves  and  seed  ;  but  every  one  sees  that  we  have 
here  a  complex  effect  proceeding  from  a  vast  number  of 
arrangements,  in  which  the  laws  of  vitality,  whatever 
they  be,  with  the  laws  of  moisture,  heat,  light,  and  elec- 
tricity, are  all  made  to  act  in  unison.  It  seems  to  be  a 
law  of  the  appendages  of  the  plant,  of  branches,  leaves, 
and  scales,  that  they  are  arranged  in  a  spiral  manner 
round  the  axis  ;  but  no  one  looks  on  this  as  a  simple  law ; 
it  is  obviously  the  result  of  certain  methodical  disposi- 
tions. We  suspect  that  most  of  what  we  call  laws  of 
nature,  that  most  of  the  principles  of  order  observable  in 
nature,  are  of  this  compound  or  derivative  character. 
They  are  the  harmonious  result  of  adjustments  many 
and  varied  among  a  vast  number  of  bodies  and  of  forces, 
which,  in  our  present  state  of  knowledge,  we  must  regard 
as  different  from  each  other,  and  which  at  least  require 
adaptations  to  be  constituted  in  order  to  their  operation 
in  a  beneficent  manner. 

If  these  remarks  be  just,  we  are  entitled  to  argue,  that 
there  has  been  adaptation  not  only  in  two  or  more  bodies 
being  so  arranged  as  to  produce  an  isolated  effect  of  a 
benign  character,  but  also  in  their  being  so  disposed  as 
to  produce  general  laws  or  general  results,  these  being 
wide-spread  and  continuous,  stretching  through  extensive 


IN   ORDER    TO    THE    OPERATIONS    OF    NATURE.  39 

regions  of  space,  and  prolonged  through  many  successive 
ages,  such  as  the  seasons,  and  the  regular  forms  and 
periods  of  plants  and  animals.  These — indeed  all  the 
principles  of  order  in  respect  of  number,  time,  colour, 
and  form — are  entitled  to  be  called  laws.  But  they  are 
not  original,  they  are  derivative  laws,  not  simple  but 
composite,  and  the  result  of  arrangements.  We  are  thus 
enabled  to  connect  the  principle  of  order  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  special  adaptation  ;  for  it  is  required  in  order  to 
the  existence  of  general  order,  that  there  should  be  adap- 
tation upon  adaptation,  and  these  necessarily  of  a  most 
ingenious  and  far-reaching  character.*  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  return,  as  we  proceed,  to  this  subject,  as  serv- 
ing to  combine  general  law  and  special  use  in  a  higher 
unity. 


SECT.  II. THE  ADJUSTMENTS  ARE  DESIGNED,  AND    NOT   CASUAL 

NATURE   OF   CHANCE. 

The  argument  from  design  in  behalf  of  the  Divine 
existence,  has  sometimes  been  so  stated  as  to  make  its 
main  premiss  a  mere  truism,  and  the  whole  argument  a 
begging  of  the  question.  It  sets  out  with  the  maxim, 
that  whatever  exhibits  marks  of  design  must  have  pro- 
ceeded from  a  designing  mind  ;  but  by  exhibiting  marks 
of  design,  is  meant  proceeding  from  a  designing  mind, 
and  thus  the  whole  ratiocination  is  nothing  but  the 
pompous  repetition  of  the  same  proposition.     When  put 

*  As  the  arrangements  needful  are  not  only  very  numerous  but  very  varied,  It  is  pro-* 
posed  that  the  word  adaptation  or  adjustment  should  be  substituted  for  collocation — a 
phrase  which  seems  to  confine  the  arrangements  to  those  of  place,  whereas  they  may 
also  include  time,  number,  active  property,  &c.  As  these  adjustments  are  necessary 
even  to  the  production  of  those  uniform  results  which  we  call  laws  of  nature,  the  proper 
distinction  is  not  between  the  laws  of  matter  aud  the  collocation  of  matter,  but  be- 
tween the  properties  of  matter  aud  the  adjustments  required  in  order  to  thoir  beneficent 
•ct  on.    See  Method  of  Divine  Government,  EoqH  II.  chaji.  j.  sect.  ji.  and  iij.,  4tl  edit. 


40  THE    ADJUSTMENTS    ARE    DESIGNED. 

in  this  way,  the  argument  is  easily  repelled  and  turned 
against  him  who  urges  it.  But  it  is  not  thus  that  it 
has  been  propounded  by  any  skilful  defender  of  religion. 

The  argument  from  final  cause,  properly  understood, 
is  derived  from  those  concurrences  and  correspondences 
of  agents  to  produce  a  given  end,  which  everywhere  fall 
under  our  notice.  These  mutual -adaptations  of  different 
and  independent  powers  are  so  numerous,  so  curious,  and 
so  beneficent,  that  they  clearly  shew  that  there  has  been 
an  Intelligent  Being  arranging  them  beforehand.  They 
cannot  proceed  from  chance,  and  we  therefore  conclude 
that  they  must  proceed  from  design. 

And  this  leads  us  to  inquire  what  is  meant  by  the 
word  Chance,  what  is  usually  meant  by  it,  and  what  is 
the  proper  meaning  of  the  phrase.  A  thousand  errors 
have  been  lurking  in  the  confused  ideas  afloat  on  this 
subject,  and  we  must  be'" allowed  to  say  that  we  have 
seldom  found  the  nature  of  chance  thoroughly  expounded, 
or  the  various  meanings  of  the  word  distinctly  stated. 
The  ancient  atheists  argued  that  there  was  such  a  thing 
as  chance,  and  ascribed  to  it  the  formation  of  the  uni- 
verse. Modern  materialists  and  pantheists  maintain  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  chance,  that  there  can  be  no 
such  thing,  and  thence  argue  that  there  can  be  no  traces 
of  design,  since  all  things  proceed  from  a  chain  of  phy- 
sical or  metaphysical  causes.  We  are  convinced  that 
the  one  as  well  as  the  other  of  these  parties  is  mistaken. 
We  mean  to  shew,  in  opposition  to  the  modern,  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  chance,  and,  in  opposition  to  the 
ancient,  that  there  are  adjustments  in  nature  which  can- 
not proceed  from  chance. 

In  maintaining,  however,  that  there  is  really  such  a 
thing  as  chance,  it  is  proper  to  announce  that  there  can- 
not be  chance  in  this  sense,  that  there  is  an  event  without 


NATURE    OF    CHANCE.  41 

a  cause.  It  is  not  necessary  in  the  present  day  to  insti- 
tute any  proof  of  this  ;  there  is  no  principle  more  firmly 
established  or  more  universally  admitted.  There  may  he 
a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  nature  of  cause  and  effect, 
and  a  still  greater  diversity  of  view  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  belief  in  causation,  whether  it  is  derived  from  interna] 
or  external  sources,  but  there  is  none  as  to  the  law  or  the 
fact  itself.  It  is  admitted  that  in  our  world  no  event 
happens  without  a  cause.  In  this  sense  chance  does  not 
exist.  "  There  is  no  such  thing  as  chance,"  says  Hume. 
Some  would  say  that  it  cannot  so  much  as  be  conceived 
to  exist. 

But  still  there  are  senses,  and  these  most  important 
senses,  in  which  there  may  be  said  to  be  chance  in  our 
world.  The  word  chance,  and  the  corresponding  words 
accident,  casualty,  fortuity,  may  be  used,  and  have  an 
intelligible  meaning  when  used  in  two  different  senses. 

First,  To  use  the  language  of  Professor  De  Morgan, 
"  the  word  chance,  in  the  acceptation  of  probability,  refers 
to  events  of  which  the  law  or  purpose  is  not  visible  ;" 
and  elsewhere,  "  events  do  happen  by  chance,  for  they  cer- 
tainly do  happen  so  that  we  can  see  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  have  been  otherwise."*  In  this  sense,  whether 
looking  forward  to  the  future,  ever  dimly  seen,  or  to  the 
present  or  the  past  as  so  far  unknown,  we  may  speak  of 
chance,  that  is,  of  events  of  which  we  do  not  see  the 
cause  or  purpose.  As  thus  used,  however,  the  word  is 
significant  merely  of  our  ignorance,  or  rather  of  the  ne- 
cessary limits  set  to  our  knowledge.  In  this  sense  it 
can  have  no  application  to  the  Divine  mind,  which  is  ever 
cognizant,  of  the  antecedents  and  consequents,  of  the  in- 
tention and  the  issue,  of  all  that  has  occurred,  or  that  is 
occurring,   or  that  will  occur.     As  thus  employed,  the 

*  De  Morgan  on  Probability,  p.  23 ;  and  Theory  of  Probabilities  in  Ency,  MetYojv, 


42  THE    ADJUSTMENTS   ARE    DESIGNED. 

word  can  have  no  place  for  or  against  us  in  the  argument 
which  we  are  now  advancing.  The  limit  of  our  know- 
ledge cannot  settle  the  question  as  to  whether  the  adjust- 
ments in  nature  are  or  are  not  designed. 

Secondly,  Things  may  be  said  to  be  casually  related  to 
each  other  when  the  relation  between  them  is  not  that  of 
cause  arid  effect,  nor  designed  by  the  person  producing 
them.  Every  event  has  a  cause,  but  every  event  is  not 
causally  connected  with  every  other  which  may  happen 
about  the  same  time  or  place,  or  have  some  relation  to  it 
of  property  or  number.  This  part  of  the  truth  is  ex- 
pressed by  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill, — "  Facts  causally  conjoined  are 
separately  the  effects  of  causes,  and  therefore  of  laws,  but 
of  different  causes,  and  causes  not  connected  by  any  law. 
It  is  incorrect,  then,  to  say,  that  any  phenomenon  is  pro- 
duced by  chance  ;  but  we  may  say  that  two  or  more  phe- 
nomena are  conjoined  by  chance,  meaning  that  they  are 
in  no  way  related  through  causation,  that  they  are  neither 
cause  and  effect,  nor  effects  of  the  same  cause,  nor  effects 
of  causes  between  which  there  subsists  any  law  of  co-ex- 
istence, nor  even  effects  of  the  same  original  law  of  colloca- 
tion."* The  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "  law  of  collocation," 
and  the  use  to  which  it  may  be  turned  in  the  theistic 
argument,  as  pointing  to  a  designed  adjustment  in  the 
original  constitution  of  things,  have  already  been  noticed. 

So  much,  then,  for  casual  as  distinguished  from  causal 
connexion.  But  casual  connexion  may  also  be  opposed 
to  contrived  connexion.  It  is  needful  to  illustrate  this, 
for  it  is  a  position  of  great  importance  in  our  argument. 
An  agriculturist,  let  us  suppose,  is  using  the  means  ne- 
cessary to  secure  a  crop  from  his  ground.  Every  step 
which  he  takes  must  have  a  causal  connexion  with  some- 
thing going  before  and  something  coming  after ;  to  this 

*  Mill's  Logic,  Book  III.  chap,  xvji. 


NATURE    OF    CHANCE.  43 

there  can  be  no  exceptions  whatsoever.     But  among  the 
many  agencies  he  sets  a-moving  there  will  be  some  which 
have  no  discoverable  mutual  relation,  while  there  will  be 
others  which  very  visibly  have  such  a  relation,  which,  we 
would  have  it  observed,  may  either  be  casual  or  designed. 
Thus  it  may  be  by  accident  that  he  began  to  plough  the 
land  on  the  same  day  as  he  did  the  previous  year ;  by 
chance  that  the  two  horses  in  a  particular  plough  are  of 
the  same  age  ;  that  his  harrows,  constructed  by  different 
makers,  are  painted  the  same  colour  ;  that  the  workmen 
employed  by  him  have  the  same  Christian  name  ;  and 
that  he  has  precisely  the  same  extent  of  land  in  crop  as 
in  the  previous  year.     There  may  be  many  such  relations 
and  correspondences  which  persons  of  a  particular  turn 
of  mind  find  pleasure  in  noticing,  and  this  because  they 
are  purely  casual.     But  there  are  other  connexions  which 
are  not  of  this  fortuitous  diameter.     It  is  not  by  accident 
that  he  begins  his  work  about  the  same  season  as  he  did 
the  previous  year ;  that  he  has  put  two  horses  into  his 
plough  ;  that  the  ploughing  has  been  followed  by  sowing 
and  harrowing  ;  that  he  has  workmen  engaged  in  tilling 
his  ground,  and  a  certain  portion  of  his  whole  ground 
under  cultivation.     There  is  here  an  evident  distinction 
between  two  sets  of  events,  and  this  distinction  does  not 
arise   from  the   one   class   having   causes,   whereas    the 
others  have  not,  nor  from  the  two  proceeding  from  alto- 
gether unconnected  laws  of  collocation,  but  from  the  one 
being  designed  as  a  mean  toward  an  end,  and  the  other 
not  being  so  designed,  as  having  no  reference  to  that  end. 
This  distinction  between  the  concurrence  of  independent 
means  intended  to  produce  an  end,  and  mere  coincidences 
which  promote  no  special  end,  is  an  all-important  one  in 
the  argument  from  design  or  final  cause. 
According  to  these  views  we  cannot  speak  of  an  event 


44  THE   ADJUSTMENTS   ARE   DESIGNED. 

being  produced  by  chance.  Such  language  has  either  no 
meaning,  or  a  meaning  opposed  to  the  universally  acknow- 
ledged principles  of  all  science  and  all  philosophy.  In 
respect  of  causal  connexion,  chance  has  and  can  have  no 
place  ;  it  is  absolutely  excluded.  But  in  respect  of  other 
connexions  of  co-existence  or  succession,  of  number  and 
property,  there  is  room  for  .chance,  and,  as  opposed  to 
chance,  of  designed  coincidences  and  correspondences, 
and  a  co-operation  of  associated  means  for  the  production 
of  a  given  end.  In  respect  of  production  there  can  be 
no  such  thing  as  chance,  but  in  respect  of  disposition 
there  may.  There  are  mutual  relations  which  are  not 
designed,  even  as  there  are  relations  which  are  designed. 
We  cannot  speak  of  accidental  occurrences,  but  we  may 
speak  of  accidental  concurrences.  We  are  to  shew  that 
in  the  place  where  there  is  room  for  chance,  there  we 
have  the  most  striking  examples  of  design. 

It  may  be  difficult  at  times  to  determine  whether 
certain  events  or  phenomena  are  conjoined  by  chance, 
or  whether  an  arrangement  has  been  made  to  produce 
the  conjunction.  It  is  no  proof  of  an  intended  connexion 
that  they  have  been  conjoined  once  or  twice,  or  a  few 
times.  Nor  can  any  absolute  rule  be  laid  down  as  to  fre- 
quency of  co-existence,  which  shall  decide  every  supposable 
case  that  may  arise.  But  there  are  cases  of  designed  con- 
currence so  clear  that  they  do  not  admit  of  a  moment's 
hesitation.  When  we  see  independent  agents  all  moving 
towards  one  end — when  we  see  stone,  lime,  wood,  glass, 
slate,  and  lead,  all  combined  in  a  house — when  we  find 
various  kinds  of  metals,  and  wheels,  pulleys,  cylinders,  of 
various  shapes  and  sizes,  conjoined  to  produce  a  machine, 
we  at  once  say  the  connexion  cannot  be  accidental,  but 
is  the  result  of  arrangements  made  to  secure  a  contem- 
plated end, 


NATURE   OF   CHANCE.  45 

Let  us  suppose  that,  on  entering  a  room,  we  discover 
on  a  table  before  us  five  or  six  balls  formed  into  a  ring- 
like  fifrure,  we  do  not  allow  ourselves  for  one  instant  to 
imagine  that  the  balls  came  hither  of  their  own  accord, 
and  without  any  one  placing  them  there  ;  but  it  may  be 
a  question  whether  the  mutual  arrangements  involved 
in  the  figure  are  accidental  or  designed.  This  question 
would  at  once  be  settled  if  we  saw  other  five  balls  on 
the  same  table  formed  into  a  similar  figure.  We  would 
then  acknowledge  at  once  that  there  can  be  as  little  of 
accident  in  the  mutual  arrangement  of  the  balls  as  in 
their  being  brought  to  this  particular  place. 

These  distinctions  and  explanations  enable  us  to  bring 
out  very  distinctly  the  nature  of  the  argument  derived 
from  adaptation  of  parts  in  favour  of  the  existence  of  God. 

In  physical  nature  we  have  the  universal  reign  of 
causation,  or  every  event  connected  .with  at  least  one 
other  event  as  its  cause,  and  yet  another  event  as  its  con- 
sequence. In  regard  to  this  point  there  is  no  difference 
of  opinion.  But  in  perfect  consistency  with  this  doc- 
trine we  may  find  a  number  of  events  occurring  at  the 
same  time  or  place,  or  nearly  at  the  same  time  or  place, 
or  having  some  sort  of  bearing  towards  each  other  of  a 
purely  accidental  character.  In  this  sense  there  is  no 
doubt  much  of  chance  in  this  world,  that  is,  many  events 
have  some  sort  of  discoverable  relation,  which  may  yet 
have  no  intended  connexion.  The  year  in  which  a 
comet  blazes  in  the  heavens  may  be  a  year  of  famine  or  of 
fearful  wars  and  intestine  feuds,  but  this  does  not  go  to 
prove  that  the  one  was  meant  to  forebode  the  other.  We 
are  quite  willing  to  admit  that  all  these  phenomena  can 
be  traced  up  to  God — we  are  sure  that  God  foreordained 
both  the  comet  and  the  famine  ;  but  it  is  quite  a  different 
thins;  to  affirm  that  the  two  have  a  designed  connexion 


46  THE    ADJUSTMENTS    AKE    DESIGNED. 

with  each  other.  Every  scar  upon  the  rocks  of  our 
earth  may  have  been  produced  by  causes  set  in  opera- 
tion by  God,  but  this  will  not  convince  us  that  there  is 
deep  design  on  the  part  of  God  in  presenting  to  us,  here 
and  there,  on  these  rocks,  a  figure,  which  men  discover 
to  bear  a  rude  resemblance  to  the  face  of  George  ifl.,  of 
Nelson,  or  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  The  fact  that  there  are 
accidental  concurrences,  in  the  sense  now  explained,  will 
not  be  urged,  by  any  one  who  seriously  reflects  upon  the 
subject,  as  proving  this  world  is  not  the  product  of 
design,  and  that  there  is  not  design  in  every  department 
of  it.  In  the  works  of  man  which  exhibit  the  clearest 
signs  of  contrivance,  it  is  not  found  that  every  one  part 
of  the  work  has  an  intended  relation  to  every  other.  In 
the  construction  of  the  walls  of  a  church  there  may  be 
the  most  careful  attention  implied  in  the  way  in  which 
the  stones  are  made  to  fit  into  each  other,  but  it  may  all 
the  while  be  purely  accidental  that  two  stones  of  much 
the  same  size,  weight,  or  colour,  are  placed  exactly 
opposite  each  other. 

But  wherever  there  may  be  chance,  there  may  surely 
be  design  likewise.  If  there  may  be  coincidences  which 
are  casual,  there  may  also  be  concurrences  which  are 
contemplated.  It  is  in  the  very  place  where  there  might  be 
accident  that  we  discover  the  clearest  and  most  con- 
vincing evidences  of  design.  Upon  observing  a  number 
of  separate  forces  acting  in  union  and  harmony,  we  must 
believe  that  there  has  been  a  designing  mind  bringing 
them  together  and  causing  them  to  co-operate.  When 
we  see  these  agencies  working  in  happiest  association  to 
produce  innumerable  effects  of  a  beneficent  character — 
when  we  find  them  consenting  and  consorting  through- 
out thousands  or  myriads  of  years  or  geological  ages, 
the    evidence   is  felt   to  be   overwhelming   beyond   the 


NATURE    OF    CHANCE.  47 

power  of  human  calculation.  Yet  this  is  the  sort  of 
conjunctions  and  co-operations  which  is  constantly  pre- 
senting itself  to  our  view.  We  observe  everywhere  a 
host  of  separate  bodies  and  powers,  all  tending  towards 
a  particular  end  ; — say  a  number  of  material  substances 
with  the  vital  agency,  the  heat  agency,  the  light  agency, 
the  electric  agency,  all  conspiring  to  the  production  of 
a  living  plant  or  animal ;  or  bone,  nerves,  and  muscles, 
meeting  to  give  an  easy  motion  to  a  limb.  "  How  often," 
asks  Tillotson,  "  might  a  man,  after  he  had  jumbled  a 
set  of  letters  in  a  bag,  fling  them  out  upon  the  ground 
before  they  would  fall  into  an  exact  poem,  yea,  or  so 
much  as  make  a  good  discourse  in  prose  ?  And  may  not 
a  little  book  be  as  easily  made  by  chance  as  this  great 
volume  of  the  world  ?  How  long  might  a  man  be 
sprinkling  colours  upon  canvas,  with  a  careless  hand, 
before  they  would  happen  to  make  the  exact  picture  of 
a  man  ?  And  is  a  man  easier  made  by  chance  than  this 
picture  ?  How  long  might  twenty  thousand  blind  men, 
which  should  be  sent  out  from  the  several  remote  parts 
of  England,  wander  up  and  down  before  they  would  all 
meet  upon  Salisbury  Plains,  and  fall  into  rank  and  file 
in  the  exact  order  of  an  army  ?  And  yet  this  is  much 
more  easy  to  be  imagined  than  that  the  innumerable 
blind  parts  of  matter  should  rendezvous  themselves  into 
a  world." 

We  have  the  mathematical  theory  on  this  subject, 
with  a  most  important  application,  laid  down  by  an 
eminent  living  mathematician.  After  stating  that  when 
we  have  a  question  of  pure  numbers  we  can  absolutely  try 
the  question  with  chance  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
in  natural  theology  as  we  try  it  in  the  common  affairs 
of  life,  Professor  De  Morgan  thus  proceeds  :* — "Let  us 

*  De  Morgau's  Essay  on  Probability,  p.  25. 


48  THE    ADJUSTMENTS   A  HE    DESIGNED. 

assume,  as  we  must,  that  a  number  produced  by  chance 
alone,  (in  the  anti-deistical  sense  of  the  word,)  might  as 
well  have  been  any  other  as  what  it  is.  And  further,  let 
us  require,  before  we  grant  intelligence  and  contrivance, 
not  merely  the  presence  of  an  adaptation,  which  would 
have  been  unlikely  from  chance  alone,  but  two  such 
phenomena  perfectly  distinct  from  each  other  considered 
as  phenomena,  each  of  which  might  have  existed  with- 
out the  other,  and  both  tending  to  the  same  object,  which 
would  have  been  defeated  by  the  absence  of  either.  Let- 
it  be  also  granted,  to  fix  our  ideas,  that  we  admit  as 
proved  a  proposition  which  has  a  hundred  million  to  one 
in  its  favour.  This  being  premised,  and  laying  it  down 
as  our  object  to  shew  that  the  necessary  result  of  the 
theory  of  probabilities  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
existence  of  contrivance  is  made  at  least  as  certain,  by 
means  of  it,  as  any  other  result  whicli  can  come  from  it, 
we  proceed  to  state  a  consequence.  The  action  of  the 
planets  upon  each  other,  and  that  of  the  sun  upon  all, 
(the  most  certain  law  of  the  universe,)  would  not  produce 
a  permanent  system,  unless  certain  other  conditions  were 
fulfilled  which  do  not  necessarily  follow  from  the  law  of 
attraction.  The  latter  might  have  existed  without  the 
former,  or  the  former  without  the  latter,  for  anything 
we  know  to  the  contrary.'-'5  Two  of  these  conditions  are, 
that  the  orbital  motions  must  be  all  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, and  also  that  the  inclinations  of  the  planes  of  these 
orbits  must  not  be  considerable.  Granting  a  planetary 
system,  which  is  what  ours  is  in  every  respect,  except 
either  of  these  two,  and  it  is  mathematically  shewn  that 

*  An  important  note  is  here  appended  : — "The  only  way  in  which  we  can  guess  any 
two  things  to  be  independent.  It  must  be  remembered  as  a  result  of  the  theory,  that  of 
things  perfectly  unknown,  the  probability  of  their  coming  to  act,  when  known,  against 
an  argument  is  counterbalanced  by  the  equal  probability  of  the  future  discovery  being 
on  the  other  side." 


NATUKE    OF    CHANCE.  49 

sucli  a  system  must  go  to  ruin  ;  its  planets  would  not 
preserve  their  distances  from  the  sun.  Neither  of  these 
phenomena  can  be  shewn  to  depend  necessarily  on  the 
other,  or  on  any  law  which  regulates  the  system  in 
general.  For  anything  we  know  to  the  contrary,  then, 
they  are  distinct  and  independent  circumstances  of  the 
organization  of  the  whole.  Now,  let  us  see  what  are  the 
phenomena  in  question. 

"  1.  All  the  eleven  planets  yet  discovered"  [that  is, 
when  the  work  was  written]  "  move  in  one  direction 
round  the  sun.  2.  Taking  one  of  them  (the  earth)  as  a 
standard,  the  sum  of  all  the  angles  made  by  the  planes 
of  the  orbits  of  the  remaining  ten,  with  the  plane  of  the 
earth's  orbit,  is  less  than  a  right  angle,  whereas  it  might 
by  possibility  have  been  ten  right  angles. 

"  Now,  it  will  hereafter  be  shewn  that  causes  are  likely 
or  unlikely,  just  in  the  same  proportion  that  it  is  likely 
or  unlikely  that  observed  events  should  follow  from 
them.  The  most  probable  cause  is  that  from  which  the 
observed  event  could  most  easily  have  arisen.  Taking 
it,  then,  as  certain  that  the'  preceding  phenomena  would 
have  followed  from  design,  if  such  had  existed,  seeing 
that  they  are  absolutely  necessary,  ceteris  mancntibus,  to 
the  maintenance  of  a  system  which  that  design,  if  it 
exist,  actually  has  organized,  we  proceed  to  inquire  what 
prospect  there  would  have  been  of  such  a  concurrence  of 
circumstances  if  a  state  of  chance  had  been  the  only 
antecedent.  With  regard  to  the  sameness  of  the  direc- 
tions, either  of  which  might  have  been  from  west  to  east, 
or  from  east  to  west,  the  case  is  precisely  similar  to  the 
following : — There  is  a  lottery  containing  black  and 
white  balls,  from  each  drawing  of  which  it  is  as  likely 
a  black  ball  shall  arise  as  a  white  one,  what  is  the 
chance  of  drawing  eleven  balls  all  white  ? — Answer,  2047 

3 


50  THE    ADJUSTMENTS   ARE    DESIGNED. 

to  one  against  it.  With  regard  to  the  other  question,  our 
position  is  this  : — There  is  a  lottery  containing  an  infinite 
number  of  counters,  marked  with  all  possible  different 
angles  less  than  a  right  angle,  in  such  a  manner  that 
any  amrlc  is  as  likely  to  be  drawn  as  another,  so  that  in 
10  drawings  the  sum  of  the  angles  drawn  may  be  any- 
thing under  10  right  angles.  Now,  what  is  the  chance 
of  ten  drawings  giving  collectively  less  than  one  right 
angle  ?— Answer,  10,000,000  to  one  against  it.  Now, 
what  is  the  chance  of  both  these  events  coming  together  ? 
— Answer,  more  than  20,000,000,000  to  one  against  it. 
It  is  consequently  of  the  same  degree  of  probability  that 
there  has  been  something  at  work  which  is  not  chance  in 
the  formation  of  the  solar  system.  And  the  preceding 
does  not  involve  a  line  of  argument  addressed  to  our 
perception  of  beauty  or  utility,  but  one  wdiich  is  applied 
every  day,  numerically  or  not,  to  the  common  business  of 
life/' 

We  have  quoted  this  passage  mainly  for  the  mathe- 
matical principles  which  it  unfolds.  Since  the  treatise 
was  written  a  great  number  of  small  planets  have  been 
discovered.  These  all  run  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
planets  previously  discovered,  and  so  add  enormously  to 
the  weight  of  the  argument.  It  is  true  that  the  incli- 
nation of  some  of  them  is  considerable,  but  their  mass 
is  so  diminutive  that  this  circumstance  is  not  fitted  to 
produce  any  permanent  disturbance.* 

This  is  the  argument  from  "Final  Cause,"  as  it  is 
commonly  called.     At  the  same  time  we  are  inclined  to 

*  See  rferschel's  "  Outlines  of  Astronomy,"  p.  453.  Should  it  be  said  all  these  con- 
ditions can  be  accounted  for  by  the  hypothesis  of  the  cooling  and  shrinking  of  a  rotating 
mass  of  heated  cosmical  matter  the  answer  is,  that  in  order  to  the  production  of  a  world 
like  ours  out  of  such  matter,  there  is  need  of  a  whole  host  of  adjustments  or  collocations. 
This  subject  will  be  formally  taken  up  in  the  chapter  of  next  Book  which  treats  of  th« 
Adjustments  of  Celestial  Phenomena. 


NATUKE   OF   CHANCE.  51 

look  upon  the  phrase  as  rather  an  unhappy  one.  The 
word,  according  to  the  all  but  invariable  usage  of  our 
tongue,  points  to  that  which  has  efficiency  ;  and  there  is 
nothing  of  the  nature  of  power  implied  in  the  great  class 
of  facts  which  we  are  now  advancing.  In  this  branch 
of  investigation  we  are  contemplating  not  so  much  a 
cause,  as  an  end  aimed  at,  by  a  combination  of  means, 
by  a  concurrence  of  causes.  The  science  which  treats  of 
the  relation  of  means  and  ends  has  an  unexceptionable 
name  applied  to  it,  and  is  called  teleology.  It  would 
serve  several  important  ends  to  have  an  equally  good 
phrase  to  denote  the  class  of  facts  which  it  is  the  business 
of  that  science  to  explore.  As  "typos"  and  "cosmos" 
have  been  naturalized  into  our  language,  we  wish  that 
some  high  authority  would  introduce  "  telos"  likewise. 
In  the  absence  of  any  such  authorized  phrase  we  shall 
be  obliged  to  employ  final  cause,  or,  in  lieu  of  it,  such 
terms  as  aim  and  purpose,  end  and  special  end.  We 
are  to  shew  that  throughout  the  whole  of  nature  there  is 
a  union  and  co-operation  of  means  for  the  production  of 
what  are  evidently  ends,  and  such  special  ends  as  argue 
a  living  being  arranging  the  means  in  order  to  their 
accomplishment. 

It  is  not  necessary,  in  order  to  the  conclusiveness  of 
such  an  argument,  that  we  should  be  able  to  say  that 
we  have  discovered  the  ultimate  end  aimed  at  in  all 
these  concurrences  of  means  to  produce  anterior  or  inter- 
mediate ends.  There  are  persons  who  seek  to  cloak  the 
hicleousness  of  their  atheism  under  the  guise  of  an 
affected  humility,  urging  it  is  not  for  them  to  be  so 
presumptuous  as  to  pretend  to  detect  the  purposes  of 
Deity.  And  there  might  have  been  some  plausibility  in 
this  pretext,  provided  it  had  been  necessary,  in  order 
to  the  validity  of  the  argument,  to  determine  the  grand 


52  THE    ADJUSTMENTS    ARE    DESIGNED. 

ultimate  design  of  creation.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
requisite  in  order  to  prove  the  existence  of  design  that 
we  should  he  able  to  fathom  all  the  depths  of  the  Divine 
counsels,  and  settle  what  is  the  last  end  of  the  Creator's 
work.  On  seeing  Napoleon  Bonaparte  gathering  his 
army  to  a  given  point — on  finding  one  battalion  coming 
from  one  province  and  other  battalions  collecting  from 
other  provinces,  distant  from  the  first  and  from  each 
other,  persons  would  have  been  entitled  to  conclude  that 
these  were  means,  and  well-devised  means,  to  an  end, 
and  this  though  entirely  ignorant  of  the  ultimate  pur- 
pose to  be  effected  by  the  subordinate  ends  ;  it  would 
be  enough  for  them  that  they  discovered  the  immediate 
end  and  the  means  employed  to  accomplish  it.  On 
precisely  the  same  grounds  are  we  justified  in  maintain- 
ing that  we  observe  in  nature  a  singular  combination  of 
means  towards  the  production  of  an  end.  This  end  may 
not  be  the  final  end  of  creation,  but  still  it  is  an  end — 
a  subordinate  end,  aimed  at  by  a  combination  of  means 
arranged  by  intelligence.  Nor  can  this  inference  be  at 
all  affected  by  the  circumstance  that  these  ends  are  com- 
monly found  to  be  means  towards  some  other  and  a  higher 
end.  In  God's  works  all  the  means  are  ends,  and  all  the 
ends  are  means,  and  all  means  and  subordinate  ends  are 
obviously  concurring  towards  a  final  consummation,  which 
man  can  not  fully  compass,  but  which  he  has  abundant 
reason — from  the  tendency  of  the  inferior  ends — to  regard 
as  at  once  grand  and  beneficent. 

The  argument  advanced  under  this  head  seems  a 
complete  one  in  itself.  It  does  not  require  in  order  to 
its  conclusiveness  that  it  should  be  proven  that  this 
world  has  had  a  beginning,  nor  to  look  to  any  physical 
facts  except  those  adduced  in  the  premises.  The  adjust- 
ment of  the  bodies  and  forces  of  nature  so  as  to  produce 


NATURE   OF   CHANCE,  53 

harmonious  and  useful  results,  is  in  itself  a  proof  of  an 
arrangement  not  casual  but  planned  by  intelligence. 
We  require  not,  in  order  to  its  conclusiveness,  to  specify 
the  time  when  the  adjustments  were  constituted,  nor  to 
shew  that  God  has  created  matter  as  well  as  arranged 
it,  nor  even  so  much  as  that  matter  has  had  a  beginning. 
These  other  truths  may  be  established  more  satisfactorily 
after  it  has  been  demonstrated,  from  the  design  mani- 
fested in  the  universe,  that  there  is  a  God  the  author  of 
the  design. 

The  force  of  the  argument  now  adduced  is  not  to  be 
turned  aside  by  going  back  in  the  chain  of  causation, 
and  shewing  how  each  of  the  combined  circumstances, 
which  form  this  means  towards  an  end,  has  proceeded 
from  a  cause.  We  are  not  to  discard  final  causes,  as 
Laplace  used  to  do  so  summarily,  as  soon  as  the  physical 
cause  of  the  individual  circumstance  is  pointed  out. 
Nor  are  we,  with  Kant,  to  lay  down  the  principle  that 
we  are  at  liberty  to  call  in  final  cause  only  when  mecha- 
nical cause  fails  to  account  for  each  particular  fact. 
The  argument  which  we  adduce  in  favour  of  final  cause 
is  derived  from  the  wonderful  combination  of  physical 
causes.  It  is  freely  admitted,  that  in  the  material  uni- 
verse every  phenomenon  has  had  a  cause,  but  this  does 
not  weaken  the  argument  founded  on  the  correspondence 
between  a  number  of  associated  phenomena,  proceeding 
from  different  and  independent  causes.  No  doubt  it 
forces  us  to  acknowledge  that  there  has  been  a  correspon- 
dence in  the  causes  producing  such  concordant  results, 
but  in  carrying  us  back  thus  far  it  only  opens  up  larger 
views  of  the  wisdom  and  foresight  involved  in  a  plan 
which  contemplated  such  far-reaching  consequences.  In 
Divine  workmanship,  as  also  in  the  higher  kinds  of 
human  workmanship,  order  and  utility  are   commonly 


54  THE    ADJUSTMENTS    ARE    DESIGNED. 

produced  by  a  long  previously  arranged  consortment  of 
means  or  causes.  For  example,  the  crop  which  the 
cultivated  ground  yields  is  the  result  of  a  vast  number  of 
preparations,  human  and  Divine  too,  made  long  before. 
It  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  Divine  workmanship  that  we 
can  see  in  it  a  set  of  causes  so  ordered  that  they  can  pro- 
duce a  series  or  succession  of  orderly  and  benign  results 
going  on  from  age  to  age.  The  plants  and  animals  now 
on  the  earth  have  all  proceeded  from  progenitors  created 
many  thousand  years  ago,  and  which  were  so  constituted 
as  to  produce  an  offspring  after  their  kind.  To  argue 
from  the  succession  of  such  effects  that  they  are  not 
designed,  is  to  make  the  very  beauty  and  perfection  of 
the  work  a  proof  that  it  has  not  proceeded  from  an  intel- 
ligent being. 

Nor  is  the  force  of  the  argument  to  be  weakened  by 
the  attempt  to  discover  an  alleged  contradiction ;  if 
everything,  it  is  said,  comes  from  God,  there  can  be  no- 
thing casual,  there  is  no  room  for  chance,  and  therefore 
no  room  for  design  as  distinguished  from  chance.  Now, 
it  is  at  once  admitted  that  every  physical  occurrence  may 
be  regarded  as  proceeding  from  God  ;  at  this  point,  that 
is,  in  regard  to  the  production  of  the  event,  there  is  no 
room  for  accident.  But  while  every  event  comes  from 
God,  this  does  not  prove  that  the  coincidences  between 
every  two  events  were  designed  by  Him  to  produce  a 
specific  end.  God  has  no  doubt  appointed  both  the 
eclipse  and  plague  which  may  have  happened  the  same 
year,  but  this  does  not  prove  that  He  designed  the  one 
dark  event  to  foreshadow  the  other.  As  there  may  be 
casual  relations  in  nature,  so  there  may  be,  so  there  are, 
in  nature  designed  concurrences,  as  distinguished  from 
accidental  coincidences.  All  that  is  now  occurring  is 
doubtless  the  result  of  collocations  previously  made;  and 


NATURE   OF   CHANCE.  55 

m  tracing  it  \>s,ek  we  must  come  to  certain  original  col- 
locations. At  this  point  physical  research  stops,  but  all 
inquiry  is  not  arrested.  The  mind  asks,  whence  this 
systematic  collocation  of  agents  and  forces  which  has 
produced  such  good  and  useful  results  for  thousands,  or 
it  may  be,  millions  of  years  ?  The  present  so  full  of  order 
carries  us  back  to  the  past  as  also  full  of  order,  and  shews 
that  the  system  now  in  operation  had  been  planned  from 
the  beginning. 

Still  less  is  the  force  of  the  argument  to  be  evaded  by 
the  miserable  subterfuge  of  certain  French  materialists, 
who  tell  us  that  this  consorting  of  means  and  end  is  the 
mere  condition  of  existence.  When  it  is  found,  for  ex- 
ample, that  certain  independent  members  of  carnivorous 
animals  are  in  admirable  harmony,  the  limbs  for  running 
after  the  prey,  the  claws  for  seizing  it,  the  muscles  for 
keeping  hold  of  it,  the  teeth  for  tearing  it,  and  the  sto- 
mach for  digesting  it,  an  attempt  is  made  to  avoid  the 
force  of  the  appeal  by  urging  that  these  are  the  condi- 
tions of  the  existence  of  the  animal.  True,  we  reply,  but 
the  argument  is  derived  from  the  circumstance  that  these 
independent  conditions  should  meet  so  as  to  enable  the 
animal  to  exist  and  to  enjoy  existence.  He  who  brings 
in  the  principle  of  the  conditions  of  existence  will  find 
it,  if  legitimately  followed  out,  landing  him  in  a  design- 
ing intelligence  no  less  certainly  than  the  principle  of 
final  cause  does.  The  argument,  whether  for  or  against 
theism,  is  not  to  be  made  to  depend  on  a  word  or  the 
shifting  of  a  word.  It  is  not  to  be  established  on  the  one 
side  by  a  verbal  sophism  about  design  implying  a  de- 
signer, but  neither  is  its  overwhelming  force  to  be  turned 
aside  by  changing  the  word  final  cause  for  conditions  of 
existence.  It  seems  that  conditions  are  necessary  to  cer- 
tain existences,  audit  is  the  concurrence. of  these  condi* 


56  THE    OBVIOUSNESS    AND    COMPLETENESS 

tions,  proceeding  from  various  and  independent  quarters, 
which  proves  so  irresistibly  that  there  must  have  been 
design  in  their  arrangement  and  collocation. 


SECT.  III. THE    OBVIOUSNESS   AND    COMPLETENESS    OP   THE 

SPECIAL   ADAPTATIONS. 

The  argument  from  adaptation  to  a  particular  end  is 
one  which  addresses  itself  to  every  human  being.  It  is 
suited  to  every  intellect,  and  comes  home  to  every  man's 
experience. 

1.  Every  manual  labourer  may  see  something  analo- 
gous to  the  art  by  which  he  earns  his  livelihood  operat- 
ing among  the  natural  objects  by  which  he  is  surrounded. 

The  sailor  may  discover  the  peculiarities  of  his  craft 
among  marine  animals.  Thus,  among  the  lower  tribes, 
he  has  observed  a  jelly-fish— called  by  him  the  Portu- 
guese man-of-war — setting  up  a  sail  which  consists  of  a 
crest  surmounting  the  bladder.  He  may  notice,  too,  how 
the  mussel  and  pinna  anchor  themselves  by  means  of 
threads  of  a  horny  material.  The  tail  of  the  fish,  it  is 
well  known,  acts  as  a  scuttle,  enabling  its  possessor  to 
plough  its  way  through  the  deep.  The  web-foot  of  the 
swimmers  is  an  example  of  what  is  called  "  feathering 
the  oar ;"  when  advanced  forward  the  web  and  toes  col- 
lapse ;  the  leg  (usually  so  called)  of  the  gillemot  and 
divers  is  compressed  laterally,  presenting  a  knife  edge 
before  and  behind,  and  thus  gives  resistance  in  the  fore 
and  back  stroke.  It  is  also  worthy  of  being  mentioned, 
as  illustrating  the  same  point,  that  the  whale's  tail  col- 
lapses in  the  upward  but  expands  in  the  downward  stroke. 

The  fisher,  as  he  prepares  the  bladder  to  make  the 
edges  of  his  net  float  on  the  water,  may  observe  that  the 


OF   THE   SPECIAL   ADAPTATIONS.  57 

sea-weed,  is  buoyed  on  the  surface  of  the  deep  by  a  con- 
trivance more  ingenious  than  his  own,  that  is,  by  vesicles 
which  act  as  floats.  Most  fishes  have  one  or  more  blad- 
ders filled  with  air,  the  amount  of  which  is  regulated  by 
the  will  of  the  animal,  so  that  it  can  vary  its  depth,  sink 
or  rise  to  the  surface,  as  may  suit  its  purposes,  The 
fisher,  too,  may  see  that  if  he  has  nets  to  catch  the  food 
needful  for  his  sustenance,  so  also  have  spielers  and  other 
species  of  animals. 

The  shepherd  knows  how  much  care  and  watchfulness 
are  necessary  in  order  to  protect  his  flocks  from  the  wild 
beasts  which  attack  them,  and  is  thus  led  to  admii-e  the 
instincts  of  those  animals,  such  as  the  deer,  which  set  a 
watch  to  give  a  signal  of  danger.  The  hunter  knows  how 
much  cunning  he  must  exercise  in  order  to  come  within 
reach  of  the  wild  animals  pursued  by  him,  and  should  not 
withhold  a  feeling  of  wonder  when  he  observes  how  their 
instincts  lead  the  brutes  to  shew  such  dexterity  in  avoid- 
ing their  natural  enemies.  The  weapons  with  which  he 
and  the  fisher  attack  the  animals  which  they  wish  to 
seize  or  kill,  do  not  point  more  clearly  to  a  purpose,  than 
the  instruments,  whether  claws  or  teeth,  with  which  they 
defend  themselves.  The  Aphrodite  hispida,  for  example, 
is  furnished  with  very  curious  weapons  of  defence  ;  they 
are  harpoons  with  a  double  series  of  barbs,  these  are  re- 
tractile, and  the  animal  can  draw  them  into  the  body  by 
a  muscular  apparatus,  and  in  order  to  prevent  them,  when 
drawn  in,  from  injuring  the  animal  itself,  each  barbed 
spine  is  furnished  with  a  two-bladed  horny  sheath,  which 
closes  on  the  barbs  in  the  act  of  retraction.  Some  of  these 
provisions  have  a  reference  to  the  native  instincts  of  the 
animals,  others  have  rather  a  regard  to  the  position  of  the 
species.  Thus  we  find  that  those  liable  to  be  chased  as  prey 
often  take  the  colour  of  the  ground  on  which  they  hahi- 

3* 


58  THE    OBVIOUSNESS   AND    COMPLETENESS 

tually  feed.  The  riflemen  of  our  army  are  dressed  in  the 
hue  which  is  deemed  least  conspicuous,  and  which  is  best 
fitted  for  concealment ;  and  is  there  not  an  equally  clear 
proof  of  design  furnished  by  the  circumstance  that  fishes 
are  often  of  the  colour  of  the  ground  over  which  they 
swim,  and  that  wild  animals  are  not  unfrequently  of  the 
colour  of  the  covert  in  which  they  hide  themselves  ? 
Thus  the  back  of  the  young  turbot  may  be  seen  of  the 
same  colour  as  the  sand  on  which  it  lies.  The  red  grouse 
and  red  deer  are  of  the  colour  of  the  heath  on  which  they 
feed,  whereas  the  lapwing  and  curlew,  themselves  and 
their  eggs,  take  the  grey  hue  of  the  pasture  among  which 
they  are  usually  found. 

The  horticulturist  and  agriculturist  regulate  their 
plans  in  accordance  with  the  seasons,  and  in  doing  so 
they  should  observe  that  the  plants  of  the  ground  suit 
themselves  in  regard  to  the  time  of  budding,  bearing 
leaves  and  fruit,  to  the  same  seasons,  which  are  all  deter- 
mined by  the  movements  of  the  celestial  bodies.  The 
builder  may  easily  perceive  that  the  woody  structure  of 
plants  and  the  bones  of  animals  are  constructed  on  archi- 
tectural principles,  being  strengthened  where  weight  has 
to  be  supported  and  pressure  resisted,  and  becoming  more 
slender  where  lightness  is  required.  The  form  of  the 
bole  of  a  tree,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  fixes  itself  into 
the  ground,  so  as  to  be  able  to  face  the  storms  of  a  hun- 
dred winters,  is  said  to  have  yielded  some  suggestions  to 
the  celebrated  engineer,  Smeaton,  in  the  construction  of 
the  Eddystone  Lighthouse.  The  architect  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  confesses  that  he  derived  some  of  the  ideas  em- 
bodied in  that  structure  from  observing  the  wonderful 
provision  made  for  bearing  up  the  very  broad  leaf  of  the 
beautiful  lily  which  has  been  brought  within  these  few 
years  from  the  marshes  of  Gruiana  to  adorn  our  conser~ 


OF    THE    SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS.  59 

vatories  The  weaver  cannot  but  notice  tbat  there  are 
certain  tribes  of  insects  which  fashion  a  web  of  finer  tex- 
ture than  his  own.  The  clothmaker  obtains  not  a  little 
of  the  material  of  the  fabrics  with  which  he  clothes  the 
human  frame,  from  the  covering  provided  for  the  lower 
animals,  and  he  derives  it  all  from  natural  products. 
When  man  wishes  to  protect  his  body  from  severe  cold, 
he  steals  their  covering  from  the  lower  animals,  and  by 
no  means  of  his  own  devising  can  he  furnish  clothing*  so 
warm  as  that  which  has  been  provided  for  the  brutes  in 
the  Arctic  regions.  The  dyer  and  calico-printer,  with 
all  the  aids  of  modern  chemistry,  cannot  produce  such 
rich  and  agreeable  colours  as  are  made  to  appear  for  our 
gratification  in  the  flowers  of  plants  and  the  plumage  of 
birds  ;  no  doubt  through  the  influence  of  principles  which 
have  not  been  detected  by  the  very  deepest  scientific  re- 
search. Eising  higher  in  the  arts  we  find  the  painter 
taking  credit  to  himself  for  the  beauty  of  his  figures  and 
colours  ;  but  he  cannot,  with  all  his  skill  and  genius, 
match  those  lovely  ideal  forms  and  exquisite  tints  which 
everywhere  fall  under  our  eye  in  nature. 

"  Who  can  paint 
Like  nature?     Can  imagination  boast, 
Amid  her  gay  creation,  hues  like  these  ? 
What  hand  can  mix  them  with  that  matchless  skill, 
And  lay  them  on  so  delicately  fine, 
And  lose  them  in  each  other,  as  appears 
In  every  bud  that  blows  ?': 

2.  Every  kind  of  contrivance,  every  principle  of  me- 
chanism used  by  man,  is  visibly  employed  in  the  opera- 
tions of  nature.  The  lamp  placed  in  a  window  to  direct 
the  benighted  traveller,  the  lighthouse  erected  on  the 
harbour  to  guide  the  mariner  to  a  place  of  safety,  are  not 
clearer  and  more  decided  illustrations  of  purpose  than. 


60  THE    OBVIOUSNESS   AND    COMPLETENESS 

the  phosphorescent  spark  by  which  the  glowworm  allures 
its  mate  in  the  darkness  of  night.  What  contrivances 
does  man  resort  to  in  order  to  keep  his  dwelling  warm 
and  comfortable,  but  the  physiologist  will  tell  him  that 
there  are  still  more  wonderful  schemes  devised  for  keep- 
ing up  the  heat  of  the  bodily  frame. 

Every  mechanical  power  employed  by  man  is  at  work 
in  nature.  There  is  as  much  skilful  leverage  in  the 
human  frame  as  in  the  most  ingenious  human  machine. 
The  pulleys  by  which  heavy  bodies  are  lifted  from  the 
ground  do  not  give  such  clear  indications  of  means  and 
end,  as  the  tendons  and  muscles  by  which  the  bones  are 
moved.  The  mechanician  has  often  a  large  cylinder 
running  across  or  through  his  works,  and  to  this  he  at- 
taches the  lesser  parts  of  his  machinery.  Have  we  not  a 
similar  contrivance  in  the  backbone  of  the  higher  ani- 
mals, and  the  axis  of  the  plant,  constituting  the  support 
of  all  the  appendages  ?  Every  one  who  has  seen  the 
cord  of  plaited  iron  by  which  a  carriage  is  dragged  up 
an  inclined  plane,  and  has  noticed  how  in  it  strength  and 
flexibility  are  combined,  should  be  prepared  to  admire 
the  different  means  by  which  the  same  end  is  effected  in 
the  backbone  of  all  animals,  but  especially  in  that  of  such 
animals  as  the  eel  and  the  serpent.  The  mechanician 
who  wishes  to  combine  the  saving  of  materials  and  light- 
ness with  strength,  makes  his  cylinder  a  hollow  tube  :  it 
is  on  this  principle  that  Messrs.  Stephenson  and  Fairbairn 
have  spanned  the  Mersey  by  a  tubular  bridge  ;  but  the 
principle  was  in  operation  before  man  adopted  it,  or  was 
created  to  observe  it,  in  many  of  the  bones  of  animals 
which  are  hollow.  Found  in  the  bones  of  all  grades  of 
living  creatures,  it  is  carried  out  to  the  greatest  extent 
where  most  needed  in  the  bones  of  birds,  so  as  to  allow 
them  to  float  in  the  air,     In  the  case  of  birds,  too,  the  air 


OF    THE    SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS.  61 

from  the  lungs  permeates  the  larger  bones  as  well  as 
the  smaller  parts,  the  higher  temperature  of  the  body 
(10S°-112°  F.)  rarefies  it,  and  imparts  an  increased 
buoyancy  to  the  whole  frame. 

Every  joint  in  the  animal  frame  can  be  shewn  to  be 
exactly  suited  to  the  function  which  it  has  to  perform. 
Where  motion  backward  and  forward  in  one  direction  is 
all  that  is  required,  we  have  a  common  joint ;  where  mo- 
tion all  round  is  necessary,  we  have,  as  at  the  shoulder 
and  hip,  the  ball  and  socket-joint  admitting  of  a  rotatory 
motion  round  a  ball.  We  have  a  beautiful  example  of 
ball  and  socket-joint  in  the  sea-urchin,  the  spines  of 
which  have  a  cuplike  cavity  at  the  base,  which  is  fitted 
to  a  converse  tubercle  ^n  the  shell,  fixed  by  ligaments, 
and  combining  strength  and  great  freedom  of  motion. 
In  some  parts  of  the  animal  frame,  a  single  bone  is  all 
that  is  required,  and  more  would  injure  the  strength  ;  in 
other  parts,  as  in  the  fore-arm,  a  kind  of  rotatory  motion 
is  furnished  by  two  bones,  a  radius  and  an  ulna,  so  ad- 
justed as  to  move  to  some  extent  round  each  other. 

Almost  every  sort  of  instrument  employed  by  man  has 
something  resembling  it  in  the  operations  of  nature. 
The  parts  of  the  mouth  of  insects  are  made  according  to 
the  instincts  and  habits  of  the  animal,  to  act  now  as  saws, 
now  as  knives,  and,  in  the  case  of  the  leaf-cutting  bees, 
the  mandibles  become  scissors.  The  hyena  is  led  by  its 
instincts  to  crush  the  bones  of  carcases  and  feed  on  them  ; 
and  when  certain  teeth  of  that  animal  were  shewn  by 
Professor  Owen  to  an  engineer,  they  were  declared  by 
him  to  be  admirable  models  of  hammers  to  break  stones 
for  roads.  The  tongue  of  many  shell-fish,  that  of  the 
common  limpet  for  instance,  has  numerous  siliceous 
spines,  and  the  organ  is  used  as  a  rasp  or  drill.  One  end 
of  the  shell  of  Pholas  resembles  a  file,  and,  by  varied 


62  THE    OBVIOUSNESS    AND    COMPLETENESS 

motions,  the  animal  makes  for  itself  tunnels  in  clay  and 
in  other  substances.  The  foot  of  the  mole  is  an  admir- 
able tunnelling  instrument,  and  enables  it  to  construct 
for  itself  those  subterranean  passages  through  which  it 
is  led,  by  its  instincts,  to  wend  its  way  in  search  of  food. 

Instruments  of  a  more  peculiar  nature,  and  instru- 
ments invented  by  man  only  at  a  late  date  in  the  history 
of  the  race,  have  all  along  had  their  analogues  in  nature. 
Millstones  are  selected  because  they  have  gritty  mate- 
rials in  the  midst  of  softer  substances ;  and  we  find  that, 
on  a  like  principle,  soft  and  hard  matters  are  mixed  in 
the  grinding-teeth  of  mammals.  The  cupping  instru- 
ments of  surgery  were  anticipated  in  the  animal  king- 
dom ;  the  mouth  of  the  leech  combines  in  itself  the  offices 
of  cupping-glass  and  scarificator ;  hence  the  import- 
ance of  the  animal,  as  a  remedial  agent.  It  is  also 
worthy  of  notice  in  regard  to  this  animal,  that  the 
capacious  stomach,  with  its  lateral  appendages  or  reser- 
voirs, enables  it  to  extract  a  very  considerable  quan- 
tity of  blood  before  being  detached.  Some  of  the  feet 
of  argulus  foliaceus,  a  parasite  on  various  fresh-water 
fishes,  are  so  modified  that  they  act  as  real  suckers  or 
cupping-glasses  ;  by  a  certain  arrangement  of  muscles 
the  animal  can  exhaust  the  cavity  of  its  disc-like  feet,  and 
produce  a  vacuum,  and  is  thus  enabled  to  stick  closely 
to  the  body  of  the  fish. 

The  tubes  and  pipes  which  conduct  water  and  gas 
through  all  the  streets  and  dwellings  of  a  great  city,  arc 
not  such  ingenious  contrivances  as  the  veins  and  arteries 
which  convey  the  blood  to  every  extremity  of  the  frame. 
The  means  by  which  water  is  forced  to  rise  in  a  pump 
are  not  so  wonderful  as  those  by  which,  proceeding  on  a 
different  principle,  fluid  is  made  to  mount  in  the  plant 
to  the  most  distant  twigc  and  leaf.     We  construct  valves 


OF    THE    SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS.  63 

to  allow  fluids  to  pass  in  one  direction,  but  to  prevent 
them  from  flowing  back  in  the  opposite  direction  ;  but 
before  man  devised  such  agency  they  were  already  in  his 
own  veins  ;  and  it  was  upon  noticing  them  that  Harvey, 
proceeding,  as  he  tells  us,  on  the  principle  that  they  were 
there  to  serve  a  purpose,  was  led  to  the  discovery  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood.  In  the  back  of  the  mouth  of 
the  crocodile  are  two  cartilaginous  plates  or  valves,  one 
above,  the  other  below  ;  these,  acting  as  floodgates,  cut 
off  communication  between  the  mouth  and  throat,  so 
that  the  animal  can  hold  its  prey  underneath  the  water 
till  dead,  and  itself  continue  all  the  while  to  breathe  by 
its  nostrils. 

3.  Among  the  most  curious  special  modifications  are 
those  in  which  there  is  a  provision  made  beforehand  for 
the  support  of  living   creatures    not   yet   in    existence. 
Every  one  sees  that  there  is  foresight  implied  in  parents 
laying  up  wealth  to  promote  the  future  comfort  of  their 
children  ;   but  there  are  equally  clear  evidences  of  fore- 
thought in  the  anticipations  found  among  natural  objects. 
In  expectation  of  the  birth  of  her  child  the  mother  makes 
preparation  for  its  clothing  and  comfort  ;  but  there  lias 
been  a  preparation  by  another  Designing  Mind,  so  as  to 
cause  the  milk  to  flow  at  the  very  time  at  which  it  is 
required  for  the  sustenance  of  the  infant.     In  the  case 
of  animals  developed  from  the  e<j;g,  we  find  a  store  of 
nourishment   laid  up  beforehand  in   the  yolk,    part   of 
which  is  absorbed  as  food  by  the  young  chick  or  reptile. 
In  the  egg-cases  of  the  common  white  whelk  of  our  coasts 
there  is  a  farther  provision  made  for  the  sustenance  of 
the  young  animal,  in  the  form  of  a  supplemental  yolk,  as 
it  might  be  called.   Each  case,  or  capsule,  contains  several 
hundred  bodies  having  the   appearance   of  embryo,   but 
only  a  small  number  in    each   capsule   becomes    living 


64  THE    OBVIOUSNESS    AND    COMPLETENESS 

creatures.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  from  Dr.  Carpenter's 
observations,  that  these  few  are  developed  by  the  meta- 
morphosis  of  the  contents  of  their  own  yolks,  but  their 
growth  or  increase  in  the  size  depends  on  the  fact  that 
they  swallow  and  feed  upon  the  additional  or  supple- 
mental yolk.* 

4.  Not  only  are  the  different  parts  of  the  animal  and 
plant  suited  to  each  other,  but  there  is  a  perfectibility 
about  them — they  are  better  adapted  than  anything  else 
to  the  accomplishment  of  their  end.  There  are  examples 
of  this  which  have  now  become  commonplace  by  the 
eloquent  expositions  of  them  by  Lord  Brougham  and 
others.  Every  principle  followed  by  the  skilful  optician 
in  the  construction  of  artificial  glasses  has  been  attended 
to  in  the  formation  of  the  eye,  and  difficulties  which  long 
impeded  the  formation  of  perfect  glasses  were  obviated 
all  along  in  the  structure  of  the  natural  organ.  Every 
one  interested  in  such  investigations  knows  that  bees 
economize,  on  mathematical  principles,  the  space  which 
they  occupy  and  the  wax  which  they  employ,  by  build- 
ing then  honeycombs  of  double  layers  of  hexagonal 
cells,  and  by  having  the  floor  of  their  cells  made  of 
three  square  planes  meeting  at  a  point  and  at  a  par- 
ticular angle.  It  is  now  said  that  this  is  produced  by 
the  compound  eye  of  the  bee  being  divided  by  hexagonal 
marks  ;  "  and  as  the  motions  of  the  muscles  of  animals 
are  directed  very  much  by  the  mode  of  admission  of 
light,  the  shape  of  the  cells  may  be  in  accordance  with 
that  of  the  surface  of  the  eyes."  f  Be  it  so,  it  is  only  a 
new  illustration  of  the  adjustment  of  natural  instinct 
and  the  structure  of  an  organ  to  produce  an  end  which 

*  Journal  of  Microscopical  Science,  April,  1855. 

t  Swan  on  the  Brain  in  Relation  to  the  Mind,  p.  29.    We  are  not  convinced  that  tin 
explanation  given  by  Swan  meets  all  the  phenomena. 


OF    THE    SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS.  65 

must  have  been  contemplated,  not  by  the  intelligence  of 
the  bee,  but  of  Him  who  gave  to  the  bee  its  endowments. 
It  has  been  shewn  by  mathematical  investigation,  that 
the  shape  of  fishes  is  that  which  is  best  fitted  to  enable 
them  to  cleave  their  way  through  their  native  element, 
At  the  time  when  it  was  disputed  whether  Newton  or 
Leibnitz  was  the  inventor  of  that  calculus  which  has 
opened  the  way  to  such  splendid  results  in  various 
branches  of  science,  John  Bernouilli  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  most  distinguished  mathematicians  of  Europe, 
challenging  them  to  solve  two  difficult  problems,  one  of 
which  was  to  determine  the  line  through  which  a  falling 
body  would  descend  most  swiftly.  Both  of  the  distin- 
guished men  referred  to,  (and  also  M.  de  I/Hopital,)  were 
able  to  solve  the  problem,  and  declared  the  line  of 
swiftest  descent  to  be  not  a  straight  line  but  a  particular 
curve  called  the  cycloid.  Now,  it  is  believed  that  it  is 
by  this  very  swoop  that  the  eagle  descends  upon  its  prey. 
The  question  presses  itself  upon  us,  Who  taught  the  birds 
of  the  air  the  bnc  of  swiftest  descent,  the  discovery  of 
which  was  believed  to  test  the  highest  mathematical 
skill  ? 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  univalve  shells  of  mol- 
luscs as  illustrative  of  the  principle  of  order.*  There  is 
another  circumstance  in  connection  with  these  sheik 
worthy  of  being  mentioned  here,  as  connecting  the  prin- 
ciple of  general  order  with  that  of  special  adaptation.  In 
aquatic  molluscs,  the  shell  must  not  only  be  a  habitation 
for  the  animal,  but  a  float,  which  it  becomes,  by  the  por- 
tion of  the  narrower  extremity  of  its  chamber  left  unoc- 
cupied. But  in  order  to  preserve  its  buoyancy,  and  en- 
able the  animal  to  ascend  and  descend  the  water  at  will, 
it  is  necessary  that  the  increment  of  the  capacity  of  its 

*  Above,  p.  88, 


66  THE  OBVIOUSNESS   AND   COMPLETENESS 

float  should  bear  a  constant  ratio  to  "the  corresponding 
increment  of  its  body — a  ratio  winch  always  assigns  a 
greater  amount  to  the  increment  of  the  shell  than  to  the 
corresponding  increment  of  the  animal  bulk.  Now,  it  is 
in  accordance  with  the  geometrical  character  of  the  form 
assumed,  that  the  capacity  of  the  shell  and  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  animal  do  increase  in  a  constant  ratio,  caus- 
ing the  whole  bulk  of  the  animal  to  bear  a  relation  of 
constantly  increasing  inequality  to  the  whole  capacity  of 
the  shell.  "  God,"  says  Mr.  Mosely,  "  hath  bestowed 
upon  this  humble  architect  the  practical  skill  of  a  learned 
mathematician."  6 

5.  It  is  a  circumstance  of  great  significance,  that  parts 
of  animals  which,  to  superficial  observers,  might  seem 
useless,  or  even  cumbersome  and  inconvenient,  have  been 
found,  in  the  progress  of  discovery,  to  serve  most  import- 
ant ends  in  the  economy  of  life.  The  hump  of  the 
camel  might  readily  be  regarded  as  a  very  unseemly 
encumbrance,  and  we  find  even  the  distinguished  natural- 
ist, Buffon,  speaking  of  these  humps,  and  of  the  callous 
pads  on  the  legs  of  that  animal,  as  mere  marks  of  degrad- 
ation and  servitude.  A  little  patient  investigation,  how- 
ever, suffices  to  shew  that  these  parts  of  their  frame,  like 
every  other,  fit  these  useful  creatures  for  the  purposes 
served  by  them  in  the  regions  which  they  inhabit.  It 
lias  often  been  remarked  that  the  abundant  supply  of 
fluid  laid  up  in  the  cells  of  one  of  the  stomachs,  is  a  beau- 
tiful provision  for  enabling  the  animal  to  endure  a  long 
continuance  of  thirst ;  and  it  can  be  shewn  that  the  en- 
largement of  their  feet,  with  their  convex  soles,  allows 
them  to  tread  easily  on  the  loose,  yielding  sand  of  the 
desert ;  that  the  callosities  or  pads  on  theii  legs  permit 
them  to  lie  down  and  repose  on  scorching  surfaces  ;  and 

*  rhilosopbical  Transactions,  1823. 


OF    THE    SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS.  67 

that  their  humps  are  supplies  of  superabundant  nourish- 
ment provided  for  their  long  journeys,  so  that,  when 
deprived  of  other  food,  their  frames  feed  on  this  nutri- 
ment ;  and  it  has  been  observed  that,  at  the  close  of  a  long 
journey,  their  humps  have  been  much  diminished  in  size. 
We  are  not  surprised  to  find  a  man  so  proverbially 
vain  as  BufTon  failing  to  discover  marks  of  design  in  the 
hump  of  the  camel,  but  it  is  rather  wonderful  to  find 
Cuvier,  whose  heart  was  so  filled  with  admiration  of  the 
Divine  wisdom,  speaking  somewhat  doubtfully  of  the 
sloth.0  Its  peculiar  structure  would,  to  use  his  language, 
have  been  inconvenient  if  it  had  been  intended  that  it 
should  support  itself  on  its  limbs,  like  most  vertebrated 
animals.  But  however  incapable  of  walking,  its  frame 
is  admirably  constructed  for  enabling  it  to  hang  by  its 
limbs  on  the  branches  of  trees.  Amid  the  great  inter- 
tangled  forests  of  South  America,  stretching  for  hundreds 
of  miles,  it  is  by  no  means  so  slow  in  its  movements ;  at 
least  its  motion  is  sufficiently  quick  to  admit  of  its  gather- 
ing its  sustenance.  It  has  long,  coarse,  shaggy  hairs  to 
protect  it  from  insects  ;  it  clings  to  the  bough  of  the  tree 
by  its  two  hinder  claws,  and  commonly  also  by  one  of 
the  fore-limbs,  and  it  employs  its  other  arm  in  hooking 
in  the  foliage  on  which  it  browses.  It  can  fling  itself 
from  one  branch  of  a  tree  to  another ;  and  in  the  more 
open  parts  of  the  forest,  it  can  take  advantage  of  windy 
weather  to  throw  itself  from  the  tree  which  it  has  stript 
to  another  covered  with  rich  and  tempting  foliage.  Such 
facts  as  these  go  to  prove  that  it  is  our  own  ignorance 
and  presumption  which  lead  us  to  complain  of  the  incon- 
veniences of  nature,  and  that  a  little  more  knowledge, 
and,  better  still,  a  little  more  humility  and  patience,, 
would  lead  us  to  discover  and  acknowledgej  that  there 

*  E^'gno  Animal,  vol.  i.  p,  224 


68  OBVIOUSNESS   OF   THE   SPECIAL   ADAPTATIONS. 

are  admirable  wisdom  and  benevolence  even  in  those 
parts  of  God's  works  which  may  seem  to  be  useless,  or 
even  injurious. 

The  problem  which  we  are  seeking  to  help  to  solve,  is 
stated  so  aptly  and  felicitously  in  the  opening  address  of 
the  President  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  British  Associa- 
tion for  the  Promotion  of  Science,*  that  we  cannot  refrain 
from  quoting  the  language.  "  In  physiology,  what  is  the 
meaning  of  that  great  law  of  adherence  to  type  and  pat- 
tern, standing  behind,  as  it  were,  and  in  reserve,  of  that 
other  law  by  which  organic  structures  are  specially 
adapted  to  special  modes  of  life  ?  What  is  the  relation 
between  these  two  laws  ;  and  can  any  light  be  cast  upon 
it  derived  from  the  history  of  extinct  forms,  or  from  the 
conditions  to  which  we  find  that  existing  forms  arc  sub- 
jected ?  In  vegetable  physiology  do  the  same  or  similar 
laws  prevail ;  or  can  we  trace  others,  such  as  these  on 
the  relations  between  structure,  form,  and  colour,  of  which 
clear  indications  have  already  been  established  ?"  These 
questions  may  best  be  answered  by  going  round  the  vari- 
ous kingdoms  of  nature,  and  placing  examples  of  the  two 
governing  laws  alongside  of  each  other. 

*  Duke  of  Argyle's  Address  as  President  of  the  British  Association. 


BOOK     SECOND. 

CO-ORDINATE  SERIES    OF  FACTS,  GIVING   INDICATIONS 
OF  COMBINED  ORDER  AND  ADAPTATION  THROUGH- 
OUT THE  VARIOUS  KINGDOMS  OF  NATURE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  MINUTE  STRUCTURE   OF  PLANTS  AND  ANIMALS- 
SECT.  I. ORDER   1ST   THE    STRUCTURE    OF   THE    CELL. 

We  are  to  be  chiefly  occupied  in  these  chapters  in 
displaying  the  skill  to  be  found  in  the  plant  and  animal, 
as  built  up  into  their  finished  forms,  with  all  their  har- 
monious proportions  and  varied  fitnesses.  But  before 
inspecting  the  finished  temple,  we  may  take  a  look  at 
the  materials  of  which  it  is  built,  and  these  we  shall  find 
to  be  like  the  stone  of  Solomon's  temple,  which  "was 
made  ready  before  it  was  brought  thither,  so  that  there 
was  neither  hammer  nor  axe  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard 
in  the  house  while  it  was  building." 

It  has  long  been  admitted  among  botanists,  that  the 
cell  is  the  typical  element  in  the  structure  of  the  plant, 
that  the  lower  forms  of  plants  actually  consist  of  cells 
separate  and  independent,  and  that  the  higher  are  built 
of  the  same  material,  compacted  into  masses  of  varied 
texture. 


70 


ORDER    IN    THE    STRUCTURE 


The  general  structure  of  the  vegetable  cell  is  very  sim- 
ple. On  the  outside  there  is  a  transparent  membrane, 
called  cell- wall,  enclosing  another  part  which  has  received 
various  names,  as  endochrome,  or  internal  utricle.  In 
the  fresh  cell  the  cell-wall  and 
internal  utricle  are  often  in  such 
close  contact  that  the  presence 
of  the  internal  layer  may  be 
overlooked  ;  but  .  the  action  of 
various  chemical  agents  pro- 
duces shrinking  of  the  inner 
layer,  and  thus  its  presence  may 
be  demonstrated.  The  primary 
form  of  the  entire  cell  is  stated  by  some  authors  to  be 
spherical ;  the  principal  modifications  in  shape  are  gene- 
rally regarded  as  departures  from  that  type.  We  are 
inclined  to  direct  attention  to  the  typical  structure,  rather 
than  to  insist  on  a  unity  of  primary  form,  since  the  latter 
may  depend  on  the  original  development  of  the  cell.  The 
most  usual  structure  of  the  animal  cell  is  essentially  the 
same  as  that  of  the  vegetable  cell.f  The  question  of  this 
identity,  in  other  words,  as  to  their  being  referrible  to  a 
common  type,  has  been  recently  examined  by  Professor 
Huxley,  who  has  proposed  a  new  and  convenient  nomen- 
clature. The  outer  part,  or  cell-wall,  he  calls  periplast, 
or  periplastic  substance,  and  the  contents  he  calls  endo- 
plast.  The  homologies  of  the  parts  of  the  animal  and  of 
the  vegetable  cell  had  been  the  subject  of  discussion  ; 
Professor  Huxley  has  arrived  at  the  general  result,  that 
"  in  all  animal  tissues,  the  internal  part  called  nucleus  is 
the  homolosme  of  the  contents  or  internal  utricle  of  the 


*  Fig.  1.    Section  of  leaf  of  Agave,  shewing  the  cell-wall  and  contents, 
t  Sometimes  that  which  corresponds  to  the  internal  part  is  alone  present,  in  6ome  of 
the  lower  forms  of  both  animals  and  plants. 


OF   THE    CELL. 


71 


plant,  the  other  elements  being  invariably  modifications 
of  the  cell- wall  or  periplast." 

The  elements,  therefore,  of  all  animals  and  plants  are 
referrible  to  a  common  type. 

Animal-cells  and  plant-cells  are  microscopical,  and 
this  is  true  whatever  be  the  size  of  the  entire  animal 
or  plant.  These  minute  cells  bear  the  same  relation  to 
the  entire  organism  as  the  component  materials  of  a 
building  to  the  whole  fabric. 


SECT.  II. SPECIAL   MODIFICATIONS    OF   THE    CELL. 

1.  In  Plants. — Having  found  traces  of  unity  in  the 
elementary  structures  of  the  plant,  we  proceed  to  inquire 
into  the  relation  between  modifications  of  such  and  the 
performance  of  certain  functions  necessary  in  the  eco- 
nomy of  the  plant,  and  essential  to  its  existence  and 
increase. 

Modifications  of  the  cell  have  generally  an  evident 
relation  to  some  particular  end  to  be  accomplished,  as, 
for  example,  to  increase  the  density,  the  tenacity,  or  the 
resisting  jiower,  or  to  furnish  a  passage  to  the  fluids 
needful  to  the  life  of  the  plant.  The  stone  of  a  cherry 
presents  an  example  of  cells 
specially  modified  with  the 
view  of  increasing  the  power 
of  resistance.  This  is  ac- 
complished by  additional 
layers  to  the  cell-wall,  which 
thus  becomes  very  much  in- 
creased in  thickness.  Similar 
modifications  are  met  with  in  certain  fruits — nuts,  foi 


Fig.  2.* 


*  Fio.  2.    Gritty  matter  of  pear,  longitudinal   and   transverse  sections;   magnified 
The  stone  of  a  cherry  or  peach  presents  the  same  structure. 


72 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


instance,  and  in  the  skin  of  some  seeds.  We  need  scarcely 
add  how  admirably  such  tissues  are  fitted  to  give  pro- 
tection to  the  important  parts  within.  The  so-called 
wood  or  woody  fibre  consists  of  elongated  cells, 
the  walls  of  which  are  often  thickened  by  secon- 
dary deposits,  thus  adding  great  tenacity  and 
durability  to  the  material.  The  woody  part  of 
trees,  as  well  as  of  smaller  plants,  consists  mainly 
of  this  substance  ;  it  abounds  where  firmness, 
tenacity,  and  elasticity  are  needful  in  the  eco- 
nomy of  the  plant  ;  and  in  the  form  of  flax, 
hemp,  &c,  man  turns  it  to  good  account  for  his 
own  purposes. 

Again,  when  free  circulation  of  fluid  is  ne- 
cessary, we  find  a  tubular  structure  provided  ; 
the  different  modifications  of  vascular  tissue, 
known  under  the  names  of 
ducts,  spiral  vessels,  &c, 
are  examples.  The  pecu- 
liar vessels  admitted  to 
exist  in  certain  plants  hav- 
ing a  milky  sap,  are  modifications 
of  cells  for  a  special  purpose  ;  they 
are  so  constituted  as  to  give  free 
passage  to  fluids  by  longitudinal  as 
well  as  lateral  channels,  the  adjoin- 
ing tubes  having  usually  free  com- 
munication. It  may  not  be  easy 
to  recognise  the  cell  type  in  such 
a  modification,  but  its  nature  be- 
comes patent,  if  we  suppose  that 


Fig.  3.* 


Fio.  4.t 


number  of  cells,  of 


whatever  form,  are  attached  in  linear  series,  and  that  the 


*  Fig.  3.    Wood  or  woody  tissue,  composed  of  spindle-shaned  i«>\l« 
t  Fig,  4.    Milk-vessels  from  dandelion. 


OF    THE    CELL.  73 

partitions  between  them  become  obliterated  ;  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  a  continuous  tube  or  duct  will  be  the  result. 

The  pollen  or  fecundating  matter  of  the  plant,  so 
essential  to  the  continuance  of  the  species,  consists  of 
transformed  cells,  and  the  first  trace  of  the  new  plant  is 
also  a  cell,  which  is  stimulated  to  full  development  by 
the  contents  of  the  pollen  cell. 

These  are  some  of  the  principal  modifications  of  the 
vegetable  fabric  ;  a  general  plan  prevails,  which  plan  is 
made  to  accommodate  itself  to  some  particular  purpose, 
whether  this  be  to  produce  a  tough  or  elastic  fibre,  a 
hard  structure  for  defence,  or  a  tube  required  for  the 
passage  of  fluids.  In  the  absence  of  such  special  and 
evidently  designed  adaptations  it  seems  evident  that  the 
plants  which  have  been  so  bountifully  disseminated  over 
the  surface  of  our  world,  would  be  unavailable  for  vari- 
ous economic  purposes,  man  could  not  derive  from  them 
food  and  clothing  for  his  j)erson,  nor  covering  and  furni- 
ture to  his  dwelling ;  nay  more,  the  very  existence  of 
many  vegetable  forms  is  dependent  on  the  special  modi- 
fications of  their  simple  elements. 

2.  In  Animals. — The  higher  endowments  of  the  animal 
organism  imply,  in  the  way  of  final  cause,  greater  depar- 
tures from  the  primitive  cell  structure,  and,  accordingly, 
we  meet  with  a  greater  number  of  more  widely  diverg- 
ing modifications.  The  researches  of  different  observers 
have,  however,  tended  to  shew  that  a  common  plan  re- 
gulates the  nature  of  the  primary  tissues.  We  may  now 
proceed  to  inquire  into  modifications  bearing  a  relation 
to  some  necessary  end  in  the  economy  of  the  animal. 

The  thin  rjellicle  which  is  separated  from  the  skin  in 
consequence  of  a  scald,  or  the  application  of  a  blistering 
plaster,  is  called  Epidermis ;  in  its  different  layers  we 
can  distinctly  trace  transitional  forms  of  the  typical  cell. 

4 


74 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


- 


© 


Fig,  5.* 


This  part,  tliin  and  delicate  although  it  be,  is  admirably 
fitted  to  give  protection  to  the  tender  and  sensitive  true 
skin  which  lies  beneath  it,  with- 
:  out  at  the  same  time  interfering 
with  the  function  of  sensation  or 
touch  exercised  by  the  latter.  It 
is  specially  worthy  of  notice  that 
where  protection  is  more  essential 
than  sensation,  there  is  frequently  a 
very  evident  increase  in  the  thick- 
ness of  the  cuticle,  as  in  the  soles 
of  the  feet  and  other  parts. 

Over  all  the  internal  free  sur- 
faces of  the  animal  body,  such  as 
the  digestive  canal,  &c,  there  is  a  covering,  denominated 
Epithelium,  essentially  of  the  same  nature  as  the  Epider- 
mis ;  the  two  are,  in  fact,  continuous,  and  there  is  a  gradual 
transition  from  the  one  to  the  other.  There  are  two 
principal  forms  of  epithelium  ;  the  first  consists  of  flat 
polygonal  cells,  the  second  is  composed  of  others  almost 
cylindrical,  the  free  surface  of  the  latter  often  shewing  a 
fringe  of  minute  filaments,  called  cilia.  Both  these  kinds 
serve  to  protect  the  delicate  surfaces  on  which  they  lie, 
and  doubtless' act  as  secreting  organs.  The  cilia  of  the 
second  form  of  epithelium,  by  their  rapid  motion,  propel 
over  the  surfaces  fluids  necessaiy  for  lubrication  and  other 
purposes,  and,  no  doubt,  aid  in 
tlie  expulsion  of  foreign  bodies 
of  small  size. 

The  Adipose  Tissue,  or  Fat,  as 
Vm.  a-t  it  is  commonly  called,   presents 

a  very  fine  example  of  the  cell  type.     The  fat-cells  may 

*  Fig.  5.    Oblique  section  of  epidermis,  shewing  its  cellular  structure, 
t  Fig.  0.    Cells  of  fat,  or  fatty  tissue 


OF    THE   CELL.  75 

be  either  spherical  or  polygonal,  the  latter  being  pro- 
duced by  the  mutual  pressure  of  aggregated  cells.  The 
contents  consist  of  oily  matter,  which  each  cell  has  the 
peculiar  power  of  forming.  The  masses  of  fat  thus 
constituted  are  reservoirs  of  nourishment,  to  be  used 
up  as  occasion  requires,  and  in  some  cases  serve  as 
a  soft  bed  for  delicate  organs,  such  as  the  eye.  The 
rounded  contour  of  the  body  depends  in  a  great  mea- 
sure on  the  presence  and  regular  distribution  of  this 
material.  Where  it  is  needed  we  find  it,  and  where 
its  presence  would  be  inconvenient  it  is  never  formed. 
Thus,  in  the  palms  of  the  hands,  soles  of  the  feet,  &c, 
it  is  generally  abundant,  and  serves  as  a  jirotection 
against  pressure  ;  it  is  never  deposited  in  the  eyelids, 
where  its  accumulation  would  undoubtedly  be  an  ob- 
stacle to  the  action  of  those  important  appendages  of 
the  organ  of  vision.  Further,  being  a  bad  conductor 
of  caloric,  its  abundance  in  certain  animals  of  cold 
regions,  tends  to  prevent  loss  of  animal  heat ;  and  in 
•some  aquatic  species,  as  the  seal,  its  presence  diminishes 
the  specific  gravity  of  the  whole  body,  and  thus  facilitates 
certain  movements  of  the  animal. 

The  Tendons,  Ligaments,  &c,  are  examples  of  fibres 
knit  together,  and  occupying  certain  parts  of  the  body 
for  the  performance  of  special  functions.  It  is  admitted 
that  all  varieties  of  these  may  originate  from  cells,  which 
are  skilful  modifications  of  the  type,  admirably  fitted  to 
accomplish  the  end  they  are  made  to  serve.  There  are 
two  different  kinds  of  fibre,  the  white  and  yellow.  The 
white  is  inelastic,  the  yellow  is  highly  elastic.  The 
former  is  present  in  the  animal  body  wherever  strength 
and  economy  of  space  are  requisite,  and  wherever  im- 
portant organs  require  protection  and  support.  Tendons 
and  ligaments,  the  membranes  which  cover  the  brain 


76  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

and  soft  parts  of  the  eye,  &c.,  consist  of  inelastic  fibre. 
By  means  of  the  yellow  elastic  fibre  the  claws  of  the 
feline  tribe  are  kept  retracted  when  not  in  use,  and  a 
strong  band  of  the  same  material,  stretching  between 
the  head,  neck,  and  back,  and  acting  as  a  natural  spring, 
enables  many  animals  to  keep  their  heads  up  without 
any  active  effort  on  their  part. 

Cartilage,  or  Gristle,  consists  mainly  of  cells,  with  in- 
tervening connecting  substance,  which  may  be  homoge- 
neous, as  in  the  purer  forms  of  cartilage,  properly  so  called, 
or  the  cells  may  have  in  the  interstices  white  or  yellow 
fibre  besides.  Elasticity,  flexibility,  as  well  as  solidity, 
are  properties  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  by  carti- 
lage. 

The  cartilaginous  and  fibro-cartilaginous  modifica- 
tions of  f he  cell  type  are  produced  in  parts  of  the  body 
where  a  solid  material  possessed  of  the  properties  above 
mentioned  is  required.  The  flexibility  and  strength  of 
the  soft  part  of  the  nose  and  of  the  external  ear  are  ow- 
ing to  the  combination  of  cartilage  and  fibre.  The  ends 
of  the  bones  forming  the  joints,  have  a  covering  of  carti- 
lage, and  being  thus  padded,  they  are  less  liable  to  injury 
by  sudden  shocks.  The  peculiar  properties  of  the  mate- 
rials in  question  perform  an  all-important  function  in 
the  economy  of  the  parts  concerned  in  the  formation  of 
the  voice.  The  strength  and  elasticity  of  the  entire 
spinal  column  or  back-bone  depend  chiefly  on  the  inter- 
vening cartilages  by  which  the  entire  series  of  pieces  is 
connected. 

Muscular  Tissue  or  Muscle,  constituting  the  flesh,  com- 
monly so  called,  presents,  on  careful  examination,  no 
veiy  remote  departure  from  the  cell  type  ;  in  fact,  the 
muscular  tissue  is  essentially  composed  of  modified  cells, 
which,  being  first  arranged  in  linear  series,  with  greater 


OF   THE   CELL. 


77 


Fig.  1* 


oi  less  regularity,  subsequently  unite  to  constitute  the 
elementary  fibres.  It  is  unnecessary  in  such  a  work  as 
this,  to  enter  into  details  regarding  the 
two  varieties  of  muscular  tissue,  called 
striped  and  smooth,  and  their  respec- 
tive properties  ;  suffice  it  to  say,  that 
both  perform  most  important  functions 
in  the  animal  economy.  The  active 
motions  under  the  control  of  the  will 
present  the  greatest  possible  variety  in 
the  amount* of  force  exercised  and  the 
resulting  effect.  How  different  the 
enormous  muscular  power  exerted  by 
the  whale,  when  it  throws  itself  entirely 
out  of  the  water,  from  that  put  forth  in  the  motions  of 
the  eyelids,  or  of  the  little  muscles  which  are  concerned 
in  the  modulation  of  the  voice,  and  yet  both  are  formed 
by  the  same  tissue  !  The  giant  steam-hammer  which  can 
weld  a  mass  of  iron,  or  simply  crack  the  shell  of  a  nut, 
is  not  more  capable  of  control,  and  exercises  no  greater 
comparative  range  of  force,  than  does  the  muscular  ap- 
paratus of  the  animal  frame.  In  singular  contrast  with 
those  masses  of  muscular  matter  subject  to  the  control 
of  the  will,  are  those  over  which  we  have  no  control, 
such  as  those  of  the  heart,  alimentary  canal,  &c.  But 
wherever  voluntary  or  involuntary  muscles  occur,  they 
are  found  precisely  where  each  is  most  necessary  in  the 
animal  economy. 

TJie  Bones.- — But  organs  of  a  harder  texture  than  any 
of  those  already  described,  are  required  in  the  animal 
frame,  either  to  protect  important  paits,  or  to  serve  as 
levers  for  the  active  functions  of  certain  muscles.  With- 
out the  bones  the  goodly  frame  of  animals  would  be  use- 

*  Fig.  7.  Smooth  muscular  fibre  from  the  renal  vein  In  man ;  shews  cell  type. 


78  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

less  ;  a  due  combination  of  soft  and  of  hard  parts  is 
necessary  ;  active  organs  of  motion  must  have  relation  to 
others  which  are  passive  ;  levers  must  be  provided  to 
sustain  and  direct  the  force  exercised  by  the  muscular 
system. 

In  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  of  types  and  modifications  in  the  general 
arrangement  of  the  animal  skeleton  ;  it  may  be  sufficient 
to  state  here  that  in  minute  structure  the  skeleton  con- 
forms itself  to  the  same  type  as  the  soft  parts.  But 
since  hardness  is  requisite,  there  is  superadded  to  the 
cellular  element  a  very  large  proportion  of  earthy  matter, 
consisting  chiefly  of  phosphate  of  lime. 

Nervous  Tissue  is  another  modification  of  the  cell 
type,  for  a  very  important  function  in  the  animal  frame. 
The  presence  and  peculiar  functions  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem specially  distinguished  the  animal  from  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  The  intercourse  of  animals  with  their  fellows, 
and  with  the  external  world,  depends  on  the  presence  of 
a  system  of  nerves,  which  are  necessary  to  sensation  and 
to  the  exercise  of  every  mental  endowment.  Whatever 
may  be  the  form  under  which  nervous  matter  appears  in 
the  animal  body,  whether  fibres  or  ganglia,  the  modi- 
fication of  the  cell  type  can  be  traced  in  course  of  the 
development. 

Not  only,  however,  do  cells,  or  their  modifications,  act 
an  important  part  in  the  protection  of  surfaces,  the  sup- 
port and  strengthening  of  organs,  and  the  performance 
of  various  active  motions,  they  are  also  the  chief  instru- 
ments in  other  functions  of  the  animal  economy.  With 
the  exception  of  the  simplest  or  very  lowest  tribes,  there 
is  in  all  animals  a  system  of  Vessels  for  the  conveyance  of 
fluid  ;  these  owe  their  primary  origin  to  cells  arranged  in 
linear  series.     In  all  animals  having  a  true  circulationj 


OF    THE    CELL.  79 

simple  isolated  cells  form  an  important  part  of  the  circu- 
lating fluid  ;  the  Blood-Corpuscles — as  they  are  com- 
monly called — to  which  that  fluid  owes  its  colour,  are 
truly  referrihle  to  the  cell  type.  The  food,  after  under- 
going certain  changes  in  the  stomach  and  alimentary 
canal,  constitutes  the  fluid  called  chyle  ;  it  is  admitted 
that  certain  Epithelial  cells  select  and  absorb  the  mate- 
rials of  the  chyle,  and,  becoming  turgid  with  them, 
subsequently  transfer  them  to  minute  vessels — the  lac- 
teals,  which  convey  them  to  the  blood-vessels.  In  the 
stomach  and  alimentary  canal,  certain  cells  are  actively 
engaged  in  pouring  out  some  peculiar  and  useful  secre- 
tion. In  the  stomach  such  cells  are  continually  form- 
ing new  broods,  which  pass  out  in  great  numbers,  their 
contents  yielding  matters  necessary  in  the  process  of 
digestion. 

There  are  organs  whose  function  it  is  to  separate 
matters  for  some  special  use,  as  the  milk  for  the  nour- 
ishment of  the  young,  or  to  remove  substances  whose 
presence  would  be  injurious  if  retained.  It  is  unneces- 
sary here  to  enter  into  details  regarding  these  various 
organs  ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  their  essentially  important 
parts  belong  to  the  cell  type.  In  short,  we  find  that  in 
the  animal  body  some  special  modification  of  the  cell 
is  concerned  in  every  important  function.  Cartilage, 
bone,  muscle,  nerve,  serve  different  ends  in  the  animal 
economy,  but  the  cell  is  the  essential  element  in  each. 
The  formation  of  an  image  in  the  eye  is  mainly  effected 
by  the  optical  properties  of  parts  having  a  cellular 
origin,  and  the  impression  is  conveyed  by  another  tissue, 
which,  as  we  have  already  stated,  may  be  referred  to  the 
same  general  type. 

In  a  subsequent  section  we  shall  have  ■  occasion  to 
allude  to  the  general  structure  as  well  as  modifications 


80  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS    OF    THE    CELL. 

of  Teeth,  Details  respecting  their  mode  of  development 
would  be  out  of  place  here  ;  it  may  he  sufficient  to  state 
that  cells  perform  an  essential  part  in  the  formation  of 
every  tooth. 

Nails,  Hoofs,  Horn,  are  all  essentially  Epidermic  pro- 
ducts, and  necessarily  partake  of  the  nature  of  that  part 
of  the  skin,  that  is,  are  modifications  of  the  cell.  Theii 
importance  in  the  animal  economy  is  too  obvious  to  re- 
quire discussion,  serving  as  they  do  to  protect  delicate 
parts,  and  to  act  as  means  of  defence  and  offence. 

Hairs  and  Feathers,  notwithstanding  their  variety  in 
color  and  texture,  have  a  common  origin  in  cells.  The 
thick  and  warm  fur  of  the  hare,  the  smooth  and  silky 
coat  of  the  mole,  the  spines  of  the  hedgehog,  the  quills 
of  the  porcupine,  and  the  coarse  hairs — resembling  split 
whalebone — of  the  elephant  and  ant-bear,  are  all  mere 
modifications  of  the  elemental  cell,  and  each  has  a  re- 
ference more  or  less  obvious  to  the  habits  of  the  animal. 
The  hairs  of  the  mole  are  closely  set,  they  stand  out  per- 
pendicularly ;  in  other  words,  have  no  particular  shed, 
and  thus  present  no  obstacle  to  the  rapid  movements  of 
this  burrower  when  traversing  its  narrow  and  intricate 
subterranean  tunnels.  The  spines  of  the  hedgehog  and 
the  sharp  quills  of  the  porcupine  are  respectively  admir- 
able means  of  protection  to  these  otherwise  defenceless 
animals.  Feathers,  constructed,  as  we  have  said,  after 
the  same  cellular  type  as  hairs,  present  similar  modifica- 
tions in  character,  varying  with  the  habits  of  particular 
birds.  The  soft  plumage  of  owls  enables  them  noise- 
lessly to  steal  on  their  agile  prey.  The  thick-set  feathers 
and  down  of  divers  and  other  aquatic  birds,  effectually 
repel  the  water  and  prevent  soiling  of  surface,  as  well  as 
loss  of  animal  heat. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    FORMS    OF    PLANTS. 
SECT.   I. TRACES    OF    ORDER   IX   THE    ORGANS    OF   PLANTS. 

"  When  Jupiter,"  says  Herder,  "was  summoning  the 
creation,  which  he  meditated  in  ideal  form  before  him, 
he  beckoned,  and  Flora  appeared  among  the  rest.  Who 
can  describe  her  charms,  who  can  image  forth  her  beauty? 
Whatever  the  earth  showers  from  her  virgin-lap  was 
mingled  in  her  shape,  her  colour,  her  drapery."  We  are 
to  attempt  no  description  of  her  beauty,  which  can  be 
appreciated  only  by  those  who  look  upon  her  charms  di- 
rectly, and  not  through  any  representation  cf  them.  But 
we  are  to  attempt  to  give  something  like  a  scientific  ac- 
count of  that  development  and  structure,  of  that  disposi- 
tion of  parts  and  distribution  of  colours,  which  mainly 
contribute  to  give  to  the  plant  its  graceful  proportions  and 
its  loveliness.  Our  present  aim  is  to  show  that  there  are 
system  and  design  in  the  progress  of  the  plant,  from  the. 
time  it  springs  from  the  seed  to  the  time  when  it  yields 
seed,  and  that  there  are  determined  types  to  which  all  its 
organs  are  made  to  conform  themselves.* 

Botanists  describe  two  modifications  in  the  structure 
of  the  seeds  of  the  higher  forms  of  plants.     In  a  pea  or 

*  Wo  are  to  confine  our  illustrations  to  flowering  plants,  partly  because  the  order  in 
these  classes  of  plants  is  most  easily  explained,  but  mainly  because  the  morphology  of 
the  lower  tribes  of  plants  has  not  been  so  fully  investigated. 

4* 


82 


TRACES    Of    ORDER 


Fig.  8.* 


bean,  we  observe  that  the  principal  bulk  of  the  seed  con- 
sists of  two  large  bodies  in  close  contact  ;  they  are  called 
seed-lobes,  or   seed-leaves,  and,  technically,  Cotyledons. 

When  two  are  present,  the 
plant  is  a  Dicotyledon.  Be- 
tween these  organs  we  ob- 
serve the  rudiments  of  the 
future  stem  and  leaves.  In 
other  plants,  such  as  the 
oat,  wheat,  Indian  corn,  etc., 
there  appears  to  be  only  one 
cotyledon,  and  such  plants  are  called  Monocotyledons. 
There  is  a  difference  between  these  two  kinds  of  seeds  as 
regards  the  process  of  germination  ;  but  it 
will  suffice  for  our  purpose,  to  state  that  in 
both  there  is  a  general  tendency  in  one  part 
to  fix  itself  in  the  soil,  while  the  other  tends 
to  raise  above  it  into  the  air  ;  the  former  is 
the  root  or  descending  axis,  the  latter  the  stem 
or  ascending  axis.  Mere  position  in  reference 
to  the  soil  is  not,  however,  an  invariable  test 
of  the  nature  of  a  part  whether  stem  or  root ; 
fur  there  are  not  a  few  instances  in  which 
the  true  permanent  stem  is  underground,  as 
well  as  the  proper  root.  But  whatever  be  the  position  of 
these  organs,  we  may  see  in  the  plant  a  continuous  prin- 
cipal axis,  one  part  of  which  constitutes  the  root,  and  the 
other  the  stem.  Attached  to  the  latter  there  are  various 
appendages. 

*  Fia.  8.  Embryo  of  Pea,  shewing  the  point  where  the  young  root  arises,  r;  the 
young  stem  or  plumule,  g ;  the  stalk,  *;  connected  with  the  cotyledons,  c  c,  which  are 
separated  and  laid  open  ;  f,  the  depression  in  which  the  plumule  lay. 

t  Fir,.  9.  Vertical  section  of  grain  of  oats,  shewing  the  embryo  plant  at  the  lower 
part,  consisting  of /,  the  parts  whence  the  roots  proceed;  ff,  the  young  stem;  c,  the 
single  cotyledon.  The  covering  of  the  entire  grain,  o ;  covering  of  the  seed  proper,  t; 
the  nourishing  matter,  or  albumen,  a. 


Fig.  9.t 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS. 


83 


On  the  ascending  axis  of  the  plant,  we  observe  two 
kinds  of  appendages,  leaves  and  buds.  These  last,  how- 
ever, are  mere  repetitions  of  the  plant ;  each  bud  con- 
sisting of  a  short  axis,  and  of  lateral  organs — the  young 
leaves. 

The  Leaf,  therefore,  is  the  only  essential  typical  appen- 
dage of  the  vegetable  organism.  It  requires  no  minute 
description  here  ;  the  most  inexperienced  observer  can 
recognize  it ;  it  belongs  to  the  class  of  "  common  things." 
The  study  of  its  many  forms  lies  within  the  province  of 
the  botanist. 

While  this  typical  appendage  varies  in  outline,  its 
general  structure  is  simple  enough.     The  outer  surface 


Fig.  lu.* 


Fro.  ll.t 


Fis.  124 


has  a  covering  called  cuticle  or  skin;  the  internal  portion, 
or  parenchyma,  as  it  is  technically  called,  has  ramifying 


*  Fjg.  10.  To  shew  curved  venation  of  Endogen. 

t  Fig.  11.  To  shew  divergent  venation  of  Endogen. 

J  FaG.  12.  To  shew  netted  venation  of  Exogen — cherry  leaf. 


84 


TKACES   OF    ORDER 


through  It  the  parts  called  veins.*  These  different  parts, 
of  which  the  leaf  is  made  up,  are  all  modifications  of  the 
typical  cell,  already  described.  Botanists  have  described 
a  difference  of  the  arrangement  of  the  leaf-veins,  between 
monocotyledons  and  dicotyledons.  In  the  first  of  these  two 
classes,  there  may  be  simple  veins  running  more  or  less 
parallel  to  each  other  from  end  to  end  of  the  leaf  {Fig.  10), 
or  there  may  be  only  one  principal  vein  (midrib)  giving  off 
lateral  veins,  all  of  which  run  parallel  to  each  other  {Fig. 
11).  In  dicotyledons,  on  the  other  hand,  there  maybe  one 
or  more  principal  veins  giving  off  numerous  branches  and 
branchlets  on  each  side,  thus  constituting  a  more  or  less 
complicated  network  {Fig.  12).  Lilies,  palms,  bananas, 
&c,  present  examples  of  parallel  venation;  the  oak,  beech, 
&c.j  have  the  netted  form.  But  it  may  further  be  observed, 
that  there  is  a  relation  between  the  structure  of  the  stem 
and  of  the  f.eod,  and  the  venation.     Dicotyledons  have 


Fig.  13* 


Fig.  14.t 


the  stem  conposed  of  concentric  annual  zones,  as  may  be 
seen  on  a  transverse  section.  Monocotyledons  present 
no  such  appearance,  the  vascular  parts  do  not  form  con- 
centric zones,  but  are  broken  up  into  bundles,  giving  a 

*  Skeleton  leaves,  either  prepared  artificially  or  found  among-  fallen  leaves  after  long 
exposure  to  the  weather,  consist  of  these  alone,  skin  and  parenchyma  having  dlsap. 
peared. 

*  FlG.  13.  Transverse  section,  stem  of  oak,  an  Exogen,  or  dicotyledon. 

t  Fig.  14.  Transverse  section,  stem  of  palm,  an  Fndogen,  or  monocotyledon. 


IX  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  85 

dotted  appearance  to  the  stem  when  cut  across.  We  may 
now  proceed  to  examine  certain  appendages  of  the  stem, 
in  order  to  shew  that  although  they  are  named  as  if  dif- 
ferent in  nature  from  stem  and  leaf,  they  are  in  reality 
modifications  of  one  or  other  of  these. 

Stipules  are  leaf-like  organs,  situated  on  either  side  of 
the  point  at  which  the  leaf  is  attached  to  the  stem,  some- 
times adhering  to  the  stalk  of  the  leaf,  at  other  times 
free.  They  have  various  forms,  and  differ  also  in  size 
and  texture,  according  to  the  plant  in  which  we  examine 
them.  It  may  he  ohserved,  however,  that  they  are  not 
always  present,  and  are  not  therefore  necessary  organs. 
They  are  evidently  modifications  of  the  leaf,  and  have 
the  same  general  structure  and  functions. 

Pitchers. — These  remarkable  and  beautiful  appendages 
might  afford  models  to  the  potter  in  the  construction  of 
vases  for  ornamental  and  useful  purposes.  Those  of  the 
Sarracenia  of  North  America,  usually  called  Indian-cups, 
and  the  still  more  remarkable  and  elegant  organs  of 
Nepenthes,  or  true  pitcher-plant,  are  examples.  They 
are  all  admitted  by  botanists  to  be  merely  modifications 
of  the  leaf  type. 

Phyllodia,  so  called  from  their  leaf-like  appearance, 
are  present  in  not  a  few  plants.  In  some  Australian 
acacias  they  are  flattened  leaf-stalks  ;  when  young,  they 
are  of  narrow  dimensions,  and  actually  bear  true  leaves 
of  small  size  ;  when  the  true  leaves  drop  off,  these  modi- 
fied leaf-stalks  increase  in  breadth.  In  some  shrubby 
species  of  wood-sorrel,  the  transition  from  leaf-bearing  to 
leafless  flattened  stalks  can  be  clearly  traced.* 

Hairs,  scurfs  or  scales,  glands,  stings,  and  prickles,  &c, 

*  The  phyllodia  of  Butcher"s-broom,  of  Xylophylla,  and  of  Phyllocladus,  usually  con- 
sidered to  be  flattened  and  leaf-like  branches,  may  be  taken  as  proof  of  the  relation 
be tween  branch  and  leaf- 


86  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

are  simple  prolongations  and  modifications  of  the  cells 
which  form  the  external  covering  of  the  leaf  or  stem.  In 
dandelion,  and  numerous  other  plants  of  the  family 
Composite,  as  well  as  of  some  other  natural  orders,  the 
divisions  of  the  calyx  become  transformed  into  hairs  or 
hair-like  organs.  Lenticular  glands  or  lenticels,  sup- 
posed to  he  connected  with  the  formation  of  new  or 
adventitious  roots,  and  peculiar  in  their  nature,  are 
now  known  to  be  the  homologues  of  cuticular  appen- 
dages. They  present,  in  different  cases,  a  gradation  to 
hairs,  glands,  &c.  (See  Comptes  Bendus,  August 
1855.) 

Spines  are  abortive  branches  ending  in  sharp  points. 
That  this  is  their  nature  is  evident  from  such  cases 
as  the  following :  first,  they  often  produce  buds  and 
leaves,  as  in  the  hawthorn  ;  second,  they  have  the  same 
general  structure  as  the  stem  and  ordinary  branches, 
and  are  therefore  not  appendages  of  the  surface  merely  ; 
third,  they  occasionally  become  branched,  as  in  Gle- 
ditschia. 

Tendrils  are  thread-like  organs,  which  have  the  same 
properties  as  twining  stems.  They  vary  in  their  true 
nature.  In  Gloriosa  superba,  the  midrib  or  principal 
vein  of  the  leaf  becomes  lengthened,  and  assumes  the 
appearance  and  functions  of  a  tendril.  In  the  Vanilla 
plant,  the  whole  leaf  sometimes  undergoes  a  similar 
transformation.  In  the  pea,  vetch,  &c,  which  have  com- 
pound leaves,  the  end  of  the  common  footstalk  forms  the 
tendril.  In  Lathyrus  aphaca,  not  merely  the  end,  but 
the  entire  stalk  of  the  compound  leaf  assumes  a  similar 
form.  That  such  is  the  nature  of  the  tendril  in  this 
plant  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  occasionally  a  small 
leaf  is  developed  upon  it.  In  Smilax,  the  two  tendrils  at 
the  base  of  the  leaf  are  the  homologues  of  the  two  sti- 


IN    THE    ORGANS   OF    PLANTS.  87 

pules,  and  the  solitary  thread-like  appendage  or  tendril 
at  the  point  of  attachment  of  the  cucumber  leaf,  is  also 
the  representative  of  a  stipule.  The  tendrils  in  passion- 
flower are  the  homologues  of  terminal,  and  in  the  vine, 
of  lateral  leaf-buds. 

The  tasteful  eye  cannot  fail  to  be  delighted  with  the 
liveliness  and  freshness  of  summer  tints,  and  the  gorge- 
ousness  of  autumnal  colouring,  in  the  foliage  of  our  forest 
trees.  Variety  of  form  and  diversity  of  size  add  to  the 
aesthetic  feelings  called  forth  by  the  umbrageous  canopy 
of  the  vegetable  world.  Our  pleasure  and  admiration 
are  greatly  enhanced  when  we  proceed  to  examine  more 
closely  the  disposition  of  the  several  parts.  A  casual 
glance,  indeed,  at  a  tree  in  full  leaf,  might  leave  upon 
the  mind  the  impression  that  its  parts  were  arranged 
according  to  no  law,  but  this  arises  from  the  exuberance 
of  the  leafy  covering  hiding  the  wonderful  method  in  the 
structure.  A  careful  examination  will  soon  reveal  to  us 
that  vegetable  arrangements  are  subject  to  mathema- 
tical laws,  not  less  exact  in  themselves  (though  ad- 
mitting, for  special  ends,  of  wider  deviations)  than  those 
which  regulate  the  movements  of  the  planets  in  their 
spheres. 

The  arrangement  of  the  typical  appendages  has  been 
fully  examined  by  Braun,  Henslow,  and  others.  The 
former  has  endeavoured  to  shew  mathematically,  not 
only  that  the  spiral  regulates  the  position  of  the  appen- 
dages of  the  stem,  but  that  each  species  is  subject  to  fixed 
laws,  by  which  the  nature  of  the  spires,  and  in  many 
cases  their  number,  is  determined. 

The  part  of  the  stem  or  branch  from  which  a  leaf  ori- 
ginates, is  called  a  node,  the  intervening  space  an  inter- 
node.  Leaves  are  said  to  be  alternate,  when  each  node 
produces  a  single  leaf,  and  when  the  successive  leaves 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


A 


occupy  alternately  different  sides  of  the  stem.  When 
there  is  such  an  arrangement,  a  line  commencing  at  the 
first  leaf,  passing  round  the  stem,  and  touching 
the  point  of  attachment  of  each  succeeding  leaf, 
forms  a  spiral,  the  cycle  ending  with  the  leaf 
placed  directly  above  the  one  from  which  we  set 
out.  When  two  leaves  originate  from  a  node, 
and  are  placed  face  to  face,  they  are  called 
opposite,  and  such  position  has  been  explained 
by  some,  on  the  supposition  of  two  spirals  pass- 
ing simultaneously  up  the  stem.  Three  or 
more  leaves  springing  from  a 
node  form  a  whorl ;  such  po- 
sition may  be  owing  to  the 
non-development  of  the  inter- 
nodes  of  an  entire  cycle,  each 
spiral  being  thus  reduced  to  a 
circle.  In  opposite  and  whorled  leaves, 
we  find  not  less  evident  traces  of  order 
as  regards  the  individual  leaves  of  suc- 
cessive nodes.  In  opposite  leaves,  for 
example,  the  pairs  of  leaves  stand  at 
right  angles  to  each  other ;  and  in  the 
whorled,  the  leaves  of  each  often  stand 
opposite  to  the  spaces  between  those  of 
the  next. 

The  beauty  and  simplicity  of  such  an  arrangement  as 
the  spiral  can  be  clearly  seen  and  appreciated  by  exa- 
mining a  branch  of  an  Araucaria,  or  the  cone  of  any  fir.^ 


Fig.  15* 


Fig.  16. -t 


*  Fig.  15.  A  stern  with  alternate  leaves  arranged  in  a  ouinouncial  manner.  The  sixth 
leaf  is  directly  above  the  first,  and  commences  the  second  cycle,  expressed  by  fraction  f. 

t  Fig.  16.  A  stem  with  opposite  leaves.  The  pairs  are  placed  at  Tight  angles  alter- 
nately. 

t  The  spiral  twisting  of  an  entire  organism,  or  of  some  of  its  parts,  is  worthy  of  notice 
here:  for  instance,  the  stoms  of  twining  plants,  as  honoysuckle,  convolvulus,  &&    The. 


IN    THE    ORGANS    OF    PLANTS. 


89 


In  the  spiral,  the  number  of  turns  made  round  the 
stem  in  completing  the  cycle  is  different,  and  we  cannot 
do  better  than  introduce  here  the  following  demonstra- 
tions and  examples,  as  given  in  Professor  Balfour's 
"  Glass-Book  of  Botany." 

Suppose  that,  commencing  with  a  leaf  No.  1,  wo  reach 
leaf  No.  8  directly  above  No.  1,  after  making  three  turns 
round  the  stem,  the  fraction  indicating  such  an  arrange- 
ment would  be  ■?.  In  another  case  we  may  reach  No.  8 
after  one  turn  ;  the  fraction  would  then  be  }.  The  frac- 
tions mark  the  angular  divergence  between  any  two 
leaves  of  the  cycle,  as  represented  in  the  divided  circles 


Fia.  17. 


Tig.  13. 


at  the  upper  part  of  the  stems.  In  Fig.  17,  between  1 
and  2,  the  angular  divergence  is  obviously  5  of  a  circle, 
or  ^  of  360°  =  154;°.  In  Fig.  18,  the  divergence  is  \  of 
the  circle,  or  \  of  360°  =,  51?°. 


leaves  of  many  plants  •while  in  the  bud,  of  banana,  for  instance,  and  some  modifications 
of  leaves  and  brandies,  follow  the  same  law,  such  as  tendrils,  the  flower-stalk  of  Cycla- 
tnon,  the  seed-vessel  of  Btreptooarpos,  <&c.  Among  the  lower  tribes  we  observe  similar 
instances,  as  in  the  sea-weed  Chorda  fllum;  in  species  of  Desmidium  found  in  fresh, 
water;  the  teeth  surrounding  the  month  of  the  capsule  of  some  mosses,  and  in  others 
besides.  The  "winding  of  leaves "  has  been  recently  examined  by  Wichu.ra,  "  Flora* 
1852," 


90  TRACES   OF    ORDER 

The  following  are  some  of  the  usual  modes  of  diver- 
gence of  leaves,  and  of  their  modifications  : — 

Distichous ;   -i,  as  in  lime-tree,  &c. 
Tristichous ;  -i,  as  in  Cereus  triangularis,  &c. 
Quincunx  ;     |,  as  in  apple,  cherry,  &c„ 
|,  as  in  holly,  laurel,  &c. 

TS3,  as  in  wormwood,  &c. 

28T,  as  in  cones  of  Pinus  Pinea,  &c. 

^f ,  as  in  Plaiitago  mediea,  &c. 

f  |,  as  in  cones  of  some  pines. 

All  these  fractions  embrace  common  arrangements  J 
each  bears  a  constant  relation  to  the  other  ;  the  numera- 
tor of  each  fraction  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  numerators 
of  the  two  preceding  fractions,  while  the  denominator  is 
the  sum  of  the  two  preceding  denominators,  and  the  nu- 
merator of  each  is  likewise  the  denominator  of  the  next 
but  one  preceding.*  Such  arrangements  in  regard  to 
position  and  number  may  possess  little  interest  in  the 
estimation  of  some,  and  may  seem  of  minor  import,  but 
they  awaken  profound  reflections  in  the  minds  of  all 
who  are  disposed  to  trace  the  indications  of  intelligence 
in  the  works  of  nature. 

Organs  of  Reproduction. — The  stem  and  its  append- 
ages present  us  with  almost  innumerable  phases  of  de- 
parture from  the  primitive  type,  thus  giving  a  variety  of 
aspect  to  the  vegetable  world,  pleasing  to  the  eye  and 
instructive  to  the  mind.  The  production  of  flowers  and 
fruit,  which  is  the  final  effort  of  every  plant,  immeasur- 
ably enhances  its  value,  and  adds  much  to  the  variety 
and  the  pleasing  effects  produced  by  it.  In  order  to  the 
"  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree  yielding  fruit  after 
his  kind,"  that  is,  fulfilling  one  of  the  very  obvious  ends 
of  their  existence,  there  must  be  superadded  an  endless 
diversity  and  combination  of  contrivances.     These  con- 

*  Balfour's  Class-Book  of  Botany,  p.  99. 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  91 

trivawoes,  while  they  enable  the  plant  to  fulfil  its  func- 
tions, are  made  by  Him  who  accomplishes  several  ends 
by  one  and  the  same  means,  to  minister  to  the  pleasure 
of  man  by  the  aesthetic  feelings  stirred  up.  These  parts 
were  described  by  Linnaeus,  in  one  of  his  few  poetical 
fits,  as  the  "  nuptial  dress  :" — they  are  "  In  glory  gar- 
mented, each  in  its  own." 

Bracts  are  parts  intervening  between  the  ordinary 
leaves  and  the  flower,  properly  so  called.  They  usually 
have  a  flower  in  the  angle  formed  between  them  and  the 
stem.  So  closely  do  they  resemble  leaves  in  most  plants 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  define  the  difference.  In  many 
cases  they  have  the  same  colour  as  leaves,  but  differ  from 
them  in  size  and  form.  In  other  cases  their  colour  is 
materially  different  ;  in  certain  species  of  Salvia,  for  in- 
stance, they  are  as  brilliant  as  the  flower.  There  are 
plants  in  which  they  exceed  the  flower  itself  in  size  and 
beauty,  as,  for  example,  Euphorbia  splendens.  When 
very  numerous,  as  in  the  daisy,  the  cup  of  the  acorn, 
&c,  it  is  very  obvious  that,  like  leaves,  they  obey  the  law 
of  the  spiral.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  Marc- 
graavia  and  Norantea  they  resemble  pitchers,  just  as 
leaves  become  transformed  into  similarly  modified  ap- 
pendages. Bracts,  therefore,  present  us  with  examples  of 
transition  between  true  leaves  and  the  parts  of  the  flower. 

Inflorescence,  or  arrangement  of  flowers  on  the  stem. 
There  is  evidently  a  plan  running  through  all  such 
arrangements,  just  as  the  spiral  law  regulates  the  posi- 
tion of  the  typical  appendages.  As  we  shall  presently 
shew,  flowers  consist  of  parts  essentially  of  the  same 
nature  as  leaves,  and  flower-buds  may,  therefore,  be 
expected  to  follow  the  same  law  of  position  as  leaf-buds. 

The  Flower  and  its  parts. — The  idea  that  the  leaf  is 
the  type  of  all  the  floral  organs  originated  with  Linnaeus. 


92 


TRACES   OF    ORDER 


A  clearer  enunciation  of  this  theory,  and  a  fuller  develop- 
ment of  the  whole,  were  made  by  the  poefc  Goethe.  We 
now  proceed  to  an  examination  of  this  interesting  subject. 

A  complete  flower,  usually  so  called,  consists  of  four 
series  of  organs,  succeeding  each  other  from  below  up- 
wards, viz.,  calyx,  corolla,  stamens,  and  pistil.  The 
two  first  of  these,  usually  so  ornamental,  are  not  unfre- 
quently  absent  ;  the  two  last  are,  properly  speaking,  the 
only  essential  parts  of  a  flower.  If  all  these  organs  are 
of  the  same  nature  as  leaves,  we  ought  to  find  similarity 
of  general  structure,  and  like  obedience  to  the  law  of 
position. 

Calyx. — This,  which  constitutes  the  outermost  of  the 
parts  which  enter  into  the  formation  of  a  complete  flower, 
consists  naturally  of  separate  pieces,  called  sepals  ;  these 


Fig.  19* 

Fig.  20.t 

have  usually  the  appearance  of  leaves,  and  exactly  re- 
semble them  in  structure.  In  the  common  bugle  (Ajuga 
reptans)  we  find  a  gradual  transition  from  below  upwards, 
from  leaf  to  bract,  the  lower  bracts  being  of  the  same 
colour  and  form  as  leaves,  while  further  up  they  gradu- 


*  Fk;.  19,  Diagram  of  symmetrical  pentamcrous  flower,  shewing  four  whorls  or  con- 
centric series  of  organs,  viz.  outer  row  of  five  sepals,  the  calyx- ;  second  row  of  five 
petals,  the  corolla;  third  row,-,  the  five  stamens;  fourth  row,  the  five  pistils.  (Flower 
of  a  Dicotyledon.) 

+  Fie.  20.  Diagram  of  the  symmetrical  trimerous  flower  of  Fritillary,  having  three 
divisions  of  calyx,  and  three  of  corolla;  six  stamens  in  two  rows;  and  a  pistil  composed 
OS  three  united.    (Flower  of  a  Monocotyledon,) 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  93 

ally  assume  a  bluish  purple  tint,  while  their  venation  is 
also  modified,  in  both  which  respects  they  resemble  the 
calyx.  But  this  is  only  one  of  the  many  instances  in 
which  we  can  trace  upon  the  same  plant  a  transition  from 
leaf  to  bract,  and  from  bract  to  sepal. 

Corolla. — The  term  flower  is,  in  common  laneniagre, 
employed  to  express  that  part  which  is  most  brilliant  in 
colour  ;  this,  in  botanical  language,  is  the  corolla,  and 
the  pieces  of  it  are  called  petals.  In  fuchsia  the  calyx 
and  corolla  are  equally  conspicuous  in  colour  ;  nay,  in 
some  varieties  the  former  is  the  more  splendid  of  the 
two.  In  monocotyledons,  the  two  whorls,  that  of  the 
calyx  and  corolla,  generally  resemble  each  other  both  in 
form  and  colour ;  thus,  in  Herb  Paris  there  is  a  striking 
similarity  between  them.  Magnolia,  certain  species  of 
water-lily,  and  other  plants,  present  in  the  same  flower  a 
decided  transition  from  calyx  to  corolla,  and  the  converse. 
In  general  structure  the  two  organs  are  little  different. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  transition  from  leaves  to 
bracts,  and  from  the  latter  to  sepals,  is  obvious  enough  ; 
and  as  the  two  first  are  evidently  of  the  same  nature,  so 
it  may  be  inferred  that  sepals  and  petals  are  really  con- 
structed after  the  leaf  type  ;  and  the  highest  authorities 
are  agreed  on  this  point. 

Stamens. — These,  which  form  the  third  series  of  floral 
organs,  from  without  inwards  (see  Fig.  19),  present  the 
greatest  departure  from  the  type  of  the  leaf,  there  being 
a  general  diminution  of  superficial  extent,  with  an  in- 
crease of  thickness  at  the  extremity.  A  perfect  stamen 
consists  of  two  parts,  anther  and  filament,  the  latter 
corresponding  to  the  leaf-stalk,  the  former  to  the  blade. 
The  filament  is  no  more  essential  to  the  anther  than  the 
stalk  is  to  the  blade  of  the  leaf,  and  is  often  absent. 
In  many  double  flowers  we  observe  a  series  of  changes. 


94  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

which  illustrate  the   true  nature  of  the   stamen.     It  is 
clearly  demonstrable  in  some  double  roses,  the  stamen 


Fig.  21* 

passing  from  its  normal  condition  into  a  petal,  and  this 
again  into  a  sepal.  The  common  white  water-lily  pre- 
sents us  with  the  same  transition  as  its  natural  structure. 

Since,  then,  bracts  are  of  the  same  nature  as  the  leaf, 
and  bracts  are  allied  to  sepals,  and  sepals  to  petals,  and 
all  this  in  more  than  one  particular  ;  and  as  petals  pass 
into  stamens,  and  the  converse,  all  may  be  regarded  as 
formed  after  the  same  type. 

The  part  of  the  stamen  called  anther  corresponds  to 
the  blade  of  a  leaf ;  its  two  halves  represent  the  two  por- 
tions of  the  leaf  divided  by  the  midrib,  and  the  whole 
surrounded  by  cuticle,  and  containing  cellular  tissue  or 
parenchima,  some  part  of  which  becomes  transformed 
into  the  pollen  or  fecundating  powder  of  the  plant,  so  es- 
sential to  the  formation  of  the  seed. 

Pistil. — This  central  organ  of  the  flower  more  resem- 
bles the  typical  leaf  than  the  stamen.  It  differs  from 
the  three  outer  whorls  of  the  flower  in  this  respect,  that 
when  simple  it  is  generally  the  representative  of  a  leaf 
folded  upon  itself,  and  with  some  of  its  parts  adhering 
more  or  less  together  ;  the  same  is  true  of  its  individual 
pieces  when  it  is  compound.*  This  folding  and  adhe- 
sion of  the  seed-vessel  is  not  always  complete,  as  we  may 

*  Fie.  21.  Transformations  in  the  stamens  of  the  rose.  The  complete  stamen  is  altered, 
gradnallv  passing  through  different  states,  until  it  becomes  a  petal,  and  the  petal  resem- 
bles a  si'pal  with  a  midrib. 

t  Schleiden  believes  some  pistils  to  be  really  hollow  stems. 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  95 

gee  in  the  common  mignonette  of  gardens.  The  leaf- 
like structure  of  the  seed-vessel  or  pistil,  as  its  natural 
condition,  is  very  obvious  in  many  plants  ;  fur  instance, 
in  the  pod  of  the  pea  or  bean,  and  in  that  of  hellebore 
and  marsh-marigold.  In  some  cases  we  see  it  reverting 
to  the  general  type  ;  for  example,  in  the 
cherry  with  double  flowers,  the  fruit  of 
which  is  abortive,  and  in  its  stead  we  ob- 
serve one  or  two  green  leaves,  resembling  in 
miniature  those  of  the  tree. 

In  order  to  understand  the  nature  of 
this  part  of  the  flower,  let  us  imagine  a 
leaf  such  as  that  of  the  cherry  or  laurel,  to  «— F>o-  22.*— 5 
be  so  folded  that  the  two  edges  are  brought  in  contact, 
the  two  halves  of  the  upper  surface  being  opposed  to  each 
other,  and  the  whole  in  a  vertical  position  ;  the  lower 
surface  of  such  leaf  will  correspond  to  the  outer  surface 
of  the  pistil,  and  the  upper  to  its  lining  or  inner  surface. 
Such,  in  fact,  is  the  real  nature  of  a  simple  leaf-pistil. 

The  seed. — We  may  now  inquire  into  the  nature  of 
the  seeds,  called,  technically,  when  young,  ovules  or  little 
eggs.  It  is  well  known  that  the  leaves  of  some  plants 
bear  buds  on  their  edges ;  for  example,  Malaxis  and 
Bryophyllum ;  the  ovules  are  representatives  of  such 
buds.  Suppose  a  leaf  of  one  of  these  plants  folded  on 
itself,  and  the  edges  also  folded  inwards  and  adherent, 
we  have  in  this  way  an  exact  representative  of  the  seed 
vessel  and  seeds  of  not  a  few  plants.  Sonic  abnormal 
cases  illustrate  the  same  truth  ;  thus,  Professor  Henslow 
has  shewn  that  in  mignonette  the  ovules  sometimes 
become  transformed  into  small  leaves  attached  to  a  short 
axis,  precisely  the  structure  of  a  bud.     Whether,  there- 

*  Fio.  22.  Seed-vessel  of  double-flowering  cherry  converted  Into  a  small  leaf,  in  two 
states  ;  unfolded,  a;  folded,  t>. 


96  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

fore,  we  adopt  Schimper's  view,  that  "  ovules  are  buds 
of  a  higher  order,  their  integuments  leaves,  and  their 
stalk  the  axis,"  or  Lindley's,  that  they  are  "  leaf-buds  in 
a  particular  state,  and  their  integuments  composed  of 
scales  or  rudimentary  leaves,"  we  are  still  constrained  to 
admit  that  they  are  formed  after  the  same  type  as  the 
other  parts.* 

But  if  the  different  series  of  organs  which  we  have 
been  describing  as  entering  into  the  formation  of  a  perfect 
flower,  are  really  of  the  same  nature  as  the  leaves  or  typical 
appendages,  they  ought  to  have  their  position  regulated 
by  the  same  law.     Such,  in  fact,  is  the  case. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  allude  to  the  whorlcd 
arrangement  of  leaves  on  the  stem,  and  in  these  instances 
we  have  a  type  of  any  of  the  four  whorls  of  the  flower 
already  described.  Farther,  the  relative  position  of  the 
leaves  in  successive  whorls,  represents  also  that  of  the 
parts  of  the  flower  ;  for  as  the  leaves  in  successive  whorls 
are,  generally  speaking,  alternate,  the  same  holds  in  the 
flower.     This  comparison  is  admitted  by  all  authorities. 

The  whorled  arrangement  of  leaves  is  but  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  spiral,  and  the  same  law  regulates  the  position 
and  mutual  relations  of  sepals,  petals,  stamens,  and  pis- 
tils. The  parts  of  succeeding  whorls,  in  both  cases, 
occupy  the  same  relative  position  as  in  whorls  of  leaves — 
that  is,  each  is  placed  opposite  the  space  between  two  in 
the  next  series  ;  in  other  words,  the  parts  of  the  flower 
alternate  with  each  other.  (See  Fig.  19).  But  the  law 
of  the  spiral  extends  also  to  the  individual  pieces  of  each 
whorl,  though  it  is  frequently  not  very  obvious,  and   is 

*  Itmay  be  worthy  of  notice  here,  as  connected  with  this  subject,  that  in  some  plants 
called  viviparous,  we  observe  mixed  up  with  the  flowers  and  flower-buds  small  bulbs. 
which,  when  mature,  drop  off  and  take  root ;  they  are,  in  fact,  miniature  buds.  Poly- 
gonum viviparum,  Sasifraga  cernua,  and  others  are  examples.  In  bume  of  these  tho 
true  flowers  are  reduced  to  two  or  three  at  the  upper  part  of  the  stem. 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  97 

liable  to  be  overlooked  by  a  careless  observer.  In  some 
species  of  rock-rose,  and  in  Polygala,  as  well  as  in  many- 
other  plants  besides,  some  of  the  sepals,  or  pieces  of 
the  calycine  whorl,  are  lower  or  more  external  than  the 
others,  which  are  higher  and  within  the  former.  This 
prevalence  of  the  spiral  is  especially  obvious  in  the  pistil 
or  central  part  of  the  flower.  The  common  strawberry, 
when  ripe,  illustrates  this  ;  the  numerous  small  pistils 
(or  seeds,  as  they  are  commonly  but  improperly  called) 
dotted  over  its  surface,  will  be  found,  on  close  examina- 
tion, td  follow  the  spiral  arrangement.  The  soft,  juicy 
part  of  the  strawberry  is  just  an  enlarged  fruit-stalk, 
axis,  or  stem  (receptacle  of  botanists),  and  the  numerous 
minute  pistils  or  seed-vessels  which  it  supports,  are  ar- 
ranged according  to  the  same  law  which  regulates  the 
position  of  leaves,  of  which  they  are  homotypes. 

Adolphe  Brougniart  long  since  showed,  that  what  are 
called  floral  whorls  are  not  strictly  such  in  many  cases,  but 
merely  a  series  of  organs  closely  approximated,  and  occu- 
pying different  heights  on  the  short  axis.  This,  aj  we 
have  shown,  is  often  sufficiently  obvious  as  the  na  fcural 
condition  of  the  parts,  but  it  is  at  times  more  palpable 
in  monstrous  flowers. 

We  have  stated  that  ovules  are  of  the  same  nature  aa 
buds.  Since  these  latter,  growing  usually  in  the  angle 
between  stem  and  leaves,  necessarily  follow  the  law  of  the 
spiral  in  regard  to  position,  the  same  ought  to  be  true  of 
ovules,  and  examples  of  this  are  easily  found.  Even 
when  the  ovules  or  young  seeds  are  very  numerous  in  a 
seed-vessel,  there  is  no  confusion,  but  the  utmost  regu- 
larity in  their  arrangement.  Thus  in  the  pod  of  a  pea, 
where  they  form  two  rows,  corresponding  to  the  infolded 
edges  of  the  typical  leaf,  those  on  one  side  alternate  with 
those  on  the  other.  In  the  seed-vessel  of  the  wall-flower, 
where  they  are  more  numerous,  they  follow  the  same  law. 

5 


98  TRACES   OF   ORDER 

The  regularity  is  not  less  obvious  when  Ave  examine  cases 
in  which  they  are  more  abundant  still,  as,  for  example, 
in  the  seed-vessel  of  the  common  foxglove.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice,  as  an  illustration  of  the  same  law,  that  the  two 
seeds  usually  found  at  the  base  of  each  scale  in  the  cone 
of  a  fir,  are  often  not  exactly  on  the  same  level,  one  being 
generally  a  little  higher  than  the  other. 

Not  only  are  there  relations  of  structure  and  position 
in  the  parts  of  the  flowers,  but  we  also  observe  relations 
in  number. 

The  typical  flower  in  plants,  having  the  dicotyledon- 
ous structure  of  seed,  has  its  parts  regulated  by  the  num- 
bers four  or  five,  or  some  multiples  of  them  ;  in  flowers 
of  monocotyledons,  the  number  three,  or  some  multi- 
ple of  it,  prevails.*  The  fundamental  structure  in  both 
may  be  modified  in  three  ways  ;  1st,  by  lateral  adhesion 
of  the  pieces  of  the  same  series,  or  of  organs  of  different 
series  ;  2c?,  by  increase  or  diminution  in  the  number  of 
the  parts  ;  od,  by  inequality  of  size  and  form,  or  union 
of  the  different  parts,  or  peculiarities  in  the  development 
of  the  axis  which  supports  them.  Some  botanical  author- 
ities admit  the  existence  of  nine  thousand  genera,  and 
about  one  hundred  thousand  species  of  the  higher  forms 
of  plants.f     The  characters  of  the  former  being  founded 

*  Linnreus,  in  classifying  plants  according  to  the  number  of  stamens,  attached,  prob- 
ably without  being  aware  of  the  importance  of  the  principle,  a  greater  weight  to  num- 
bers than  has  been  assigned  to  them  by  more  modern  observers.  In  Geraniums  we 
may  often  observe  five  stems,  five  leaves  divided  into  five  parts,  five  flower-stalks,  five 
sepals,  five  petals,  and  the  stamens  in  multiples  of  five.  In  the  natural  family  Umbel- 
lifer*  (carrot  and  hemlock  arc  examples),  the  number  five  prevails  not  only  in  the 
flower,  but  it  also  seems  to  regulate  the  inflorescence,  five  or  some  multiple  of  it  occur- 
ing  very  frequently  in  that  part.  The  common  elder-tree  belonging  to  the  Honey- 
suckle family,  has  live  leaflets  on  a  common  stalk,  the  inflorescence  or  flower-stem  has 
five  primary  branches,  each  of  these  has  in  turn  five  secondary,  and  so  on  repeatedly  ; 
five  being  also  the  typical  number  in  the  flower.  In  the  true  heaths,  four  is  the  typical 
number  in  the  parts  of  the  flower,  but  it  (or  its  multiples)  often  appears  also  to  regulate 
the  number  of  leaves  which  appear  together,  as  well  as  the  number  of  flowers  which  are 
grouped  together. 

t  These  numbers  are  doubtless  far  above  the  mark,  as  regards  plants  actually  discov- 
ered. 


EST   THE    ORGANS    OF    PLANTS.  99 

on  differences  in  the  organs  of  reproduction,  there  are 
therefore  numerous  modifications  of  the  typical  flower. 
All  parts  of  the  plant  furnish  characters  of  species,  and 
there  are  therefore  many  thousand  modifications  of  the 
typical  plant.  Amid  so  much  variety,  it  is  pleasing  to 
contemplate  the  common  plan  which  regulates  all ;  and 
knowing  that  plan,  we  possess  a  key  to  explain  those  re- ' 
markable  forms  which  are  so  common  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  whether  the  coronet-like  flower  of  Napoleona 
imperialis,  the  irregular  flower  of  Aristolochia,  or  of  the 
Balsams,  or  that  peculiar  slipper-shaped  corolla  from 
which  Calceolaria  derives  its  name.  The  gaping  flower 
of  Mimulus,  and  the  irregular  mask-like  flower  of  Lina- 
ria,  are  all  referable  to  a  common  type.  A  knowledge 
of  the  typical  flower  in  the  Endogens  enables  us  to  ascer- 
tain the  true  nature  of  those  modifications  which  render 
the  grotesque  flowers  of  the  Orchids  so  remarkable  ;  in 
some  it  resembles  an  insect,  in  others  a  spider,  and  in  a 
third  case,  a  helmet  with  the  visor  up,  indeed  there  is 
scarcely  a  common  insect  or  reptile  to  which  some  of  them 
have  not  been  likened."*  The  flowers  of  the  bee  and 
spider  orchis,  the  toad-like  Megaclinium  Bufo,  and  the 
Caleana  nigrita  of  Swan  River,  whose  flowers  capture  in- 
sects, and  all  the  anomalous  Cape  species,  can  be  inter- 
preted when  we  know  the  type. 

Having  gone  over  the  organs  of  the  plant  indivi- 
dually, we  are  now  to  inquire  whether  there  may  not  be 
indications  of  a  unity  running  through  all  classes  of 
plants. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  two  great  classes  of  flower- 
ing plants  called  Monocotyledons  and  Dicotyledons,  each 
characterized  by  peculiarities  in  the  structure  of  seed,  of 
stem,  and  of  leaf  (and  also  by  a  difference  in  the  mode 

*  Llndley's  Vegetable  Kingdom,  p.  176. 


100  TRACES   OF    ORDER 

of  germination  of  the  seeds).  Each  also  has,  generally 
speaking,  a  certain  number  or  its  multiples  regulating 
the  number  of  parts  in  the  flower.  There  seem,  however, 
to  bo  evidences  that  these  two  great  classes,  thus  usually 
distinguished,  really  possess  much  that  is  common.  Ac- 
cording to  Mohl,  the  structure  of  the  stem  of  an  Endo- 
gen  and  of  an  Exogen,  during  the  first  year  of  their 
growth,  is  altogether  the  same.  Dutrochet  indicates  the 
Bryony  as  an  example  of  such  identity.  As  to  the  seed, 
Professor  Lindley  remarks,*  "  It  is  apparent  that  dicoty- 
ledons are  not  absolutely  characterized  by  having  two 
cotyledons,  nor  monocotyledons  by  having  only  one. 
The  real  distinction  between  them  consists  in  the  mode 
of  germination,  and  in  the  cotyledons  of  dicotyledons 
being  opposite  or  in  whorls,  while  in  the  monocotyledons 
they  are  solitary  or  alternate." 

The  difference  in  the  arrangement  of  the  veins  of  the 
leaves  in  these  two  classes  present  not  a  few  exceptions  ; 
thus,  on  the  one  hand,  among  monocotyledons  we  have 
examples  of  netted  venation,  as  in  Arum,  Calla,  Lilium 
giganteum,  &c,  and  on  the  other,  examples  of  parallel 
venation  among  dicotyledons,  as  in  Nerium.  There  seem, 
therefore,  to  be  transitional  forms  between  the  two  great 
classes  into  which  the  largest  proportion  of  the  highei 
plants  has  been  divided  by  botanists. 

There  are  indications,  too,  of  a  unity  of  structure  run- 
ning through  all  the  organs  of  the  individual  plant.  We 
think  it  of  importance  to  illustrate  this  at  considerable 
length. 

It  will  not  be  reckoned  by  any  scientific  botanist,  in 
the  present  day,  as  an  excess  of  refinement  to  represent 
the  developed  organs  of  the  plant  as  all  formed  after  one 
or  other  of  two  different  types  or  models,  the  Stem  and 
the  Leaf. 

*  Introduction  to  Botany,  vol.  ii.  p.  267, 


IN   THE    ORGANS    OF    PLANTS.  101 

First,  The  more  solid  parts  of  the  plant  are  composed 
of  a  number  of  stems,  proceeding  the  one  from  the  other 
in  linear  succession.  Springing  from  the  embryo,  or 
seed,  there  is  the  axis  mounting  upward  and  becoming 
the  aerial  stem,  and  growing  downward  and  becoming  the 
root.  From  the  former  of  these,  or  the  ascending  axis, 
there  go  off  lateral  stems,  which  we  may  call  branches, 
and  from  these,  other  stems,  which  we  may  call  branch- 
lets.  There  proceed,  in  like  manner,  from  the  descending 
axis,  or  top  root,  lateral  branches  which  also  ramify 
through  the  soil.  There  are  important  differences  be- 
tween the  aerial  and  the  subterranean  steins  to  fit  them 
for  their  different  functions.  Boots,  for  examjxle,  have 
no  pith,  no  scales  or  leaves,  and,  in  ordinary  circum- 
stances, no  leaf-buds  like  the  upward  axis.  Still  the  two 
are  alike  in  the  general  character  ;  the  branched  plant  is 
found  to  have  a  branched  root.  The  tendencies  of  the 
underground  ramification  have  not,  so  far  as  we  know, 
been  carefully  determined  ;  but  above  ground,  it  is  very 
evident  that  the  stem,  branch;,  and  branchlet  obey  the 
same  laws.  u  If  a  thousand  branches  frond  the  same 
tree,"  says  Lindley,  "  are  compared  together,  they  will  be 
found  to  be  formed  upon  the  same  uniform  plan,  and  to 
accord  in  every  essential  particular.  Each  branch  is 
also,  under  favorable  circumstances,  capable  of  itself 
becoming  a  separate  individual,  as  is  found  by  cuttings, 
buddings,  graftings,  and  other  horticultural  processes. 
This  being  the  case,  it  follows  that  what  is  proved  of  one 
branch  is  true  of  all  the  others."  We  have  seen  a  pear- 
tree  laid  prostrate  on  the  ground  by  storms,  but,  with  its 
roots  still  fixed  in  the  soil,  sending  out  a  branch  from  its 
side,  which  mounted  upward,  and  took  a  form  precisely 
like  that  of  the  parent  tree.  . 

The  other  typical  or  model  form  is  the  leaf.     We  have 


102  TKACES    OF    ORDEK 

shewn  that  all  the  appendages  of  the  plant  are  constructed 
on  this  type.  "  Linnaeus  had  a  presentiment  of  some- 
thing of  this  kind,  and,  in  his  Prolepsis  Plantarum, 
carried  it  out  in  such  a  way  that,  starting  from  the  con- 
sideration of  a  perennial  plant  with  regular  periodicity 
of  vegetation,  as  in  our  forest  trees,  he  explained  the  col- 
lective floral  plants,  from  the  bracts  onward,  as  the  collec- 
tive foliar  produce  of  a  five-year-old  shoot,  which,  by 
anticipation  and  modification,  was  developed  in  one  year. 
This  view  is,  in  the  first  instance,  taken  from  the  most 
limited  point  possible,  from  the  examination  of  a  plant 
of  our  climate  ;  and  secondly,  imagined  and  carried  out 
with  great  want  of  clearness/'*  The  true  doctrine  was 
first  propounded  by  C.  F.  Wolff  (Theoria  Generationis, 
1764),  but  his  treatise  lay  buried  in  neglect  till  the  doc- 
trine became  established  by  the  influence  of  others.  It 
was  first  presented  to  the  world  by  the  great  German 
poet,  Goethe,  who,  though  not  learned  in  the  artificial 
botany  at  that  time  taught  in  the  schools,  had  a  fine  eye 
for  the  objective  world.  We  are  not  willing,  indeed, 
to  admit  that  the  form  in  which  Goethe  expounded  the 
doctrine  is  in  every  respect  correct.  It  is  wrong  to  repre- 
sent floral  organs  as  metamorphosed  leaves,  for  they 
never  have  been  leaves  in  fact ;  the  accurate  statement 
is,  that  these  organs  and  leaves  are  formed  after  the  same 
general  plan.  Nor  are  we  to  represent  nature  as  striving- 
after  a  model  form,  which  she  fails  to  reach,  in  the  va- 
rious modifications  of  organs  ;  for  the  modifications  are 
as  much  an  end  and  intended,  as  the  parts  which  may- 
be pointed  to  as  patterns.  Still,  Goethe  may  be  regarded 
as  having  seized  the  great  law  of  vegetable  morphology. 
His  Versuch  die  Metamorphose  der  Pflanzen  zu  erklaren, 
was  published  in  1790,  and  has  furnished  the  foundation 

*  Schleiden's  Principles  of  Scientific  Botany,  translated  by  Lanfeester. 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS. 


103 


to  scientific  botany.  But  as  Goethe  had  no  name  among 
the  initiated,  little  attention  was  paid  by  botanists  gene- 
rally to  his  speculations 
till  long  after,  when  they 
were  mentioned  by  Jus- 
sieu,  and  brought  into 
general  notice  by  De  Can- 
dolle,  in  his  "  Organogra- 
phies published  in  1827. 
The  doctrine,  somewhat 
modified,  is  now  acknow- 
ledged by  the  great  doctors, 
and  has  been  sanctioned 
by  the  great  councils  of 
science. 

According  to  this  idea, 
a  plant  is  composed  of  two 
essentially  distinct  parts, 
the  stem  and  leaf.  The 
leaf  is  attached  to  the 
ascending  stem,  and  be- 
sides its  common  form,  it 
takes,  while  obeying  the 
same  fundamental  laws, 
certain  other  forms,  as 
scales,  bracts,  sepals,  pe- 
tals, stamens,  and  pistils. 
Schleiden,  who  has  deve- 
loped this  view,  gives,  in 
his  "  Plant,  a  Biography,"  a  picture  of  a  typical  plant  con- 
structed on  this  principle.     This  makes  a  plant  a  dual. 

*  Fig.  23.  The  typical  plant— 1  to  T.  Axis. 

I    to  VI.  Appendages.— I.  Cotyledon;  II.  Leaves;  III.  Calyx;  IV.  Corolla;  V.  Sta« 
men;  VI.  Pistil. 
II.  Typical  appendages.     I.  III.  IV.  V  VI.  Modified  appendages. 
b  b,  Buds  composed  of  shortened  axes,  with  rudimentary  appendages. 


104  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

But  it  appears  to  us  possible  to  reduce  a  plant  by  a 
more  enlarged  conception  of  its  nature  to  a  unity,  that 
is,  to  shew  that  there  is  a  unity  of  plan  running  through- 
out the  whole.*"" 

Looking  first  at  the  ramification  of  the  stems,  we  may 
observe  a  central  stem,  or  central  stems,  sending  out 
other  stems  at  definite  angles,  and  of  a  normal  length, 
and  altogether  in  so  regular  a  manner  that  the  whole 
plant  is  made  to  take  a  predetermined  form.  Looking 
next  at  the  venation  of  the  leaf  we  perceive  (see  Figs. 
12,  24,  25,  26)  that  it  too  has  a  ramified  character,  that 
it  has  in  the  centre  a  main  rib,  or  ribs,  from  which  pro- 
ceed other  ribs  or  veins  in  so  definite  a  manner  that  the 
whole  skeleton  assumes  a  regular  shape.  Now,  we  main- 
tain that  a  number  of  correspondences  can  be  detected 
between  the  ramification  of  the  stems  and  the  ramifica- 
tion of  f  he  leaf- veins. 

In  prosecuting  this  inquiry,  let  us  first  inspect,  in  a 
general  way,  the  leaf  of  a  tree,  with  its  central  vein,  or 
veins,  and  its  side  veins.  (See  Figs.  12,  24,  25,  26.) 
On  the  most  cursory  inspection  the  impression  will  be 
left  on  the  mind  that  the  central  vein,  or  midrib,  as  it  is 
called,  corresponds  to  the  central  stem  or  axis  of  the 
tree,  and  its  side  veins  to  the  branches.  Having  seized 
the  figure  of  the  leaf- venation  in  the  first  instance,  let  us 
now  look  at  the  skeleton  of  the  tree,  say  a  tree  stripped 
of  its  leaves  in  winter,  and  we  may  notice  how  like  it  is 
in  its  disc  and  the  arrangement  of  its  parts  to  the  skele- 
ton and  outline  of  a  leaf.  We  shall  be  particularly 
struck  with  this  if  we  view  the  tree  in  the  dim  twilight, 

*  Br.  M'Cosh  has  here  to  express  his  obligations  to  Professor  Balfour  of  Edinburgh 
who,  without  prematurely  committing  himself  to  these  views,  has  kindly  helped  to  give 
them  publicity  and  bring  them  under  discussion.  See  Transactions  of  Botanical  Society 
of  Edinburgh,  July  1851,  and  Balfour's  Class-Book  of  Botany,  2.1  edit.  p.  113;  see  als« 
$ecUon;il  Reports,  for  1S52  and  1S,jl,  of  British  Association  for  Promotion  of  Science, 


IN  THE  OBGANS  OF  PLANTS.  105 

jt  "  pale  moonlight,"  between  us  and  a  clear  sky,  as  we 
may  conceive  Wordsworth  to  have  viewed  it. 

"  Often  have  I  stood, 
Foot-bound,  uplooking  at  this  lovely  tree, 
Beneath  a  frosty  moon." 

We  are  quite  aware  that,  in  the  tree,  the  branches  go  off 
ail  round  the  axis,  and  give  to  the  whole  figure  a  sphe- 
rical form,  whereas  in  the  leaf  the  fibrous  veins  all  lie 
in  one  plane.  But  then  we  have  a  transition  from  the 
one  to  the  other,  and  a  point  of  connexion  in  the  branch, 
the  branchlets  of  which — as,  for  example,  visibly  in  the 
beech — often  lie  in  one  plane,  and,  if  filled  up,  would 
make  the  figure  bear  a  resemblance  to  the  leaf.  The 
principal  difference  between  the  tree  and  leaf  may  pos- 
sibly be  found  to  consist  in  this,  that  for  special  ends  the 
cellular  tissue  which,  in  the  tree  and  its  branches,  is  col- 
lected into  the  pith  and  bark,  (which  are  connected  by 
the  medullary  rays,)  is  in  the  leaf  spread  out  so  as  to  fill 
up  the  interstices  in  the  fibrous  matter  which  forms  the 
veins.  The  general  impression  produced  by  the  first 
thoughtful  survey  of  a  morphological  correspondence 
between  stem  ramification  and  leaf  ramification  will  be 
confirmed  by  a  more  searching  and  scientific  investiga- 
tion. In  maintaining  this,  we  always  assume  that  in  the- 
cases  subjected  to  examination  both  stem  and  leaf  are 
fully  and  fairly  developed. 

But  here  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  it  settled,  at  the 
outset,  that  every  species  of  plant  tends,  if  allowed  to 
grow  freely  and  in  favorable  circumstances,  to  take  a 
particular  form,  and  that  the  same  is  also  true  of  the 
leaf.  This  statement  will  be  allowed,  after  a  moment's 
recollection  and  thought,  as  to  the  leaf.  The  cherry 
leaf  (Fig.  12)  obviously  assumes  one  shape,  the  beech 
leaf  (Fig.  24)  another  shape,  the  lime  leaf  (Fig.  25)  a 

5* 


106  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

third  shape,  and  the  poplar  leaf  (Fig.  26)  yet  a  different- 
shape.  Every  one  who  has  used  his  eyes  will  remember 
that  the  oak  leaf  has  its  peculiar  figure,  and  the  thorn 
leaf  its  own  conformation,  and  the  birch  leaf  its  specific 
outline,  by  which  we  at  once  recognise  them  and  distin- 
guish them  the  one  from  the  other.  A  very  little  patient 
observation  of  trees  growing  freely — of  lawn-trees,  for 
example — may  satisfy  any  one,  that  what  is  true  of  the 
leaf  is  also  true  of  the  tree.  Every  species  of  tree,  ac- 
cording to  naturalists,  has  its  own  habit ;  and  this  gives 
to  it  a  peculiar  physiognomy  by  which  the  practised  eye 
will  at  once  recognise  it.  We  have  often  found  it  in- 
teresting, (when  we  had  nothing  else  to  interest  us,)  in 
passing  along  a  road,  to  detect,  by  their  configuration, 
the  various  species  of  trees  which  met  the  eye,  and 
this  when  they  were  bared  in  winter,  and  there  was  no 
foliage  to  aid  us.  Towards  this  normal  shape  of  its 
species  every  individual  tree  tends.  No  doubt  it  is 
greatly  interfered  with,  and  much  thwarted  in  its  efforts 
by  prevailing  winds  which  bend  it,  or  violent  storms 
which  break  it,  by  too  much  cold  at  one  side,  or  too 
much  sunshine  at  another  side,  by  a  niggard  soil  denying 
nourishment,  or  officious  neighbours  jostling  it,  by  cattle 
browsing  on  it,  or  men  cutting  it  ;  still  we  can  see  the 
native  tendency  in  the  most  unfavourable  circumstances, 
while,  in  more  favoured  positions,  we  see  the  tree  grow- 
ing up  to  its  beau-ideal. 

And  here  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general  rule,  that 
every  plant  takes  the  fairest  shape  when  allowed  to 
assume  its  natural  form.  True,  there  are  trees  which 
have  been  rendered  picturesque  by  being  torn  or  twisted 
by  the  storm,  or  venerable  by  the  marks  of  age ;  but- 
being  unaided  by  associated  feelings  produced  by  such 
causes,  the  plant  is  always  injured  when  attempts  are 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  107 

made  by  man  to  give  it  an  artificial  shape.  Every  tree 
should  be  allowed  fairly  to  develop  itself,  protected  only 
from  rude  winds,  and  interfering  neighbours,  and  graz- 
ings  of  cattle,  and  primings  of  man,  who  so  often  mars 
in  attempting  to  mend.  All  ornamental  pruning  should 
aim,  not  at  improving,  but  aiding  nature — nay,  not  so 
much  at  aiding  it,  as  cutting  off  unnatural  additions  and 
removing  artificial  imperfections.  Thus  left  to  their 
innate  tendencies,  all  plants  will  grow  into  a  form  more 
or  less  beautiful.  A  tree  growing  freely  and  fairly  in  a 
lawn,  where  it  has  soil  to  feed  it,  and  space  to  develop 
itself,  and  air  to  breathe  in,  and  sun  to  warm  it,  and 
fences  to  shelter  it,  stands  before  us  a  most  interesting 
object  of  contemplation.  The  parallel  branches,  and 
their  spiral  arrangement  round  the  axis,  their  sweep  of 
curve,  and  the  methodical  way  in  which  they  first 
lengthen  and  then  shorten  as  they  ascend  the  trunk,  and 
the  graceful  rotundity  and  elegant  outline  of  the  whole 
between  us  and  the  sky,  all  combine  to  fix  the  eye,  and 
unconsciously  excite  and  engage  the  musing  intellect. 
And  there  is  another  beauty  produced  by  a  number  of 
differently-formed  trees  standing  on  the  same  lawn,  and 
each  shewing  its  separate  mould  and  features.  For  as 
one  star  differeth  from  another  in  glory,  and  as  one  saint 
in  heaven  differeth  from  another  in  glory,  so  one  tree 
differeth  from  another  in  glory.  There  is  one  glory  of 
the  oak,  which  looks  as  it  it  had  faced  a  hundred  storms, 
and  having  stood  them  all,  were  ready  to  face  as  many 
more  ;  another  glory  of  the  sycamore,  that  "  spreads  in 
gentle  pomp  it  honeyed  shade  \"  another  glory  of  the 
birch,  so  graceful  in  the  midst  of  its  maiden  tresses  ;  an- 
other glory  of  the  elm,  throwing  out  its  wide  arms  as  if 
rejoicing  in  its  strength  ;  and  another  glory  of  the  lime, 
with  its  sheltering  shade  inviting  us  to  enter  and  to  linger, 


108 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


Each  lias  its  own  glory,  of  which  it  would  he  shorn  were 
it  to  make  an  ambitious  attempt  to  usurp  the  glory  of 
its  neighbour. 

It  being  allowed  that  there  is  a  pattern  form  for  the 
whole  plant  and  for  its  leaf,  we  are  now  to  trace  certain 
interesting  correspondences  which  we  have  noticed  be- 
tween the  two.* 

1.  In  plants  with  ivoocly  structure,  there  seems  to  he  a 
correspondence  between  the  tree  and  leaf  in  this  respect, 
that  a  leaf  without  a  leaf-stalk  implies  a  trunk  naturally 
branched  from  the  ground,  and  a  leaf  ivith  a  leaf -stalk 
implies  that  the  species  of  tree  on  which  it  grows  has 
naturcdly  a  hare  sialic. — In  order  to  the  settlement  of 
this  point,  it  is  necessary  to  have  it  admitted  that  there 
are  trees  which  are  naturally  feathered  from  the  base, 
whereas  there  are  others  which 
have  less  or  more  of  an  unbranched 
trunk.  Belonging  to  the  former 
class  we  may  name  the  greater 
number  of  our  ornamental  lawn 
shrubs,  as  the  box,  the  holly,  the 
laurels,  bay  and  Portugal,  the  ar- 
butus, the  laurustinus,  the  privet, 
the  snowberry.  All  of  these  cover 
the  lawn  from  near  the  base,  and  it 
may  be  observed  of  the  leaves  of  all 
of  them,  that  they  have  no  petiole, 
or  a  very  short  petiole.  To  this 
same  class  belong  many  of  the  common  forest  trees,  such 

*  Our  observations  have  been  extensive  and  varied,  but  they  are  limited  when  com- 
pared  with  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom,  and  so  we  are  prepared  to  expect  that  curious 
modifications  and  anomalies  will  cast  up,  which,  while  not.  setting  aside  these  general 
views,  will  open  new  views,  and  enable  science,  in  the  end,  to  rise  to  a  more  thorough 
conception  of  the  plant. 

+  Fig.  24.  Beech  leaf,  as  an  example  of  leaf  with  little  or  no  leaf-stalk ;  shewing  nearly 

parallel  reive;  angle  of  venation,  45°  to  50°;  the  midrib  zigzag. 


Fig.  24. t 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  109 

as  the  oak,  the  elm,  the  beech.  The  leaves  of  these 
trees  have  little  or  no  leaf-stalk,  and  we  are  able,  from  a 
rather  extensive  observation,  to  affirm  that  these  trees 
incline  to  send  out  branches  from  the  base.  At  times, 
indeed,  this  tendency  is  interfered  with.  In  fields,  the 
lower  branches  are  frequently  eaten  by  cattle,  and  in 
thick  woods  they  often  fail  from  want  of  air.  The  lower 
branches  of  the  young  oak  are  studiously  cut  off  by 
woodmen,  in  order  to  get  a  tall,  unbranched  trunk  for 
timber.  The  beech  is  not  unfrequently  cut  over  before 
being  planted  out  in  lawns,  and  a  whorl  of  branches  is 
made,  in  consequence,  to  spring  out  some  few  feet  above 
the  ground.  In  England,  the  favorite  elm  is  often 
pruned  near  the  base,  in  order  to  lessen  the  shade  upon 
the  field  or  highway.  But  when  allowed  to  grow  unmo- 
lested, and  in  favourable  circumstances,  these  trees  arc 
all  bushy  from  the  base.  The  very  circumstance  that 
the  oak  require"]  pruning  in  order  to  its  having  a  bare 
trunk,  proves  that  its  own  tendency  is  otherwise.  The 
beech  shews  that  it  is  naturally  branched  from  the  roots, 
by  the  closeness  of  the  hedges  which  it  forms.  The 
pruned  elm  is  ever  displaying  its  native  disposition,  by 
the  little  branches  that  crop  out  from  its  trunk  in  spite 
of  all  the  cutting  to  which  it  is  subjected. 

Other  trees,  again,  have  less  or  more  of  a  bare  trunk, 
and  the  leaves  of  these  have  less  or  more  of  a  leaf-stalk. 
To  this  belong  the  cherry,  {Fig.  12,)  the  lime,  {Fig.  25,) 
the  poplar,  {Fig.  26,)  the  apple,  the  pear,  the  birch,  the 
chestnut,  the  sycamore.  These  cannot  be  induced,  except 
by  constant  cutting,  to  grow  bushy,  or  to  afford  shelter, 
from  their  base  in  rows  or  fences.  The  thorn  may  seem 
to  furnish  a  disproof,  by  its  being  so  commonly  employed 
in  hedges.  But  every  one  who  has  bestowed  the  least 
attention  upon  iiu  subject,  knows  that  thorns  need  con- 


110 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


stant  cutting  to  keep  them  from  becoming  bare  near  the 
root,  and  their  native  habits  are  seen  when  they  are 
planted  out  in  lawns,  where  they  have  invariably  (as  the 
beautiful  thorns  in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  can  testify)  an 
unbranched  trunk. 

2.  There  is  a  correspondence  between  the  disposition 
and  distribution  of  the  branches,  and  the  disposition  and 
distribution  of  the  leaf  veins. — Some  trees,  such  as  the 
beech,  the  poplar,  the  birch,  the  oak,  have  one  main 
axis,  from  which  there  proceed  comparatively  small  side 
branches,  pretty  equably  along  its  length  ;  and  it  will  be 
found  in  such  cases  that  the  leaf  (see  Figs.  12,  25)  has  one 

central  vein,  with  pretty 
equally  disposed  veins  on 
either  side.  Other  trees 
again,  incline  rather  to 
send  off,  at  a  particular 
height,  for  each  species, 
a  number  of  branches  at 
once.  This  is  the  case  with 
the  lime,  the  common 
^  -3^f,^%r\t  X^SF^  -/  sycamore,  and  the  horse- 
chestnut.  The  lime  has 
a  few  feet  of  unbranched 
trunk,  and  at  the  place  at 
which  it  begins  to  branch 
there  will  commonly  be 
noticed  a  cluster  of  branches,  which,  as  they  droop  down 
give  to  that  tree  its  attractive  shade,  and,  in  correspond- 
ence with  this,  we  may  observe  that  the  leaf  has  a  petiole, 


Fig.  25.: 


*  Lime  leaf,  as  example  of  a  leaf  with  a  leaf-stalk,  shewing  a  clustering  or  whorling 
of  veins  at  the  point  at  which  the  veins  begin  to  come  off,  and  a  nearly  parallel  venation. 
The  angles  made  by  the  lateral  veins  from  the  midrib  are  42°,  those  made  by  the  veins 
proceeding  from  these  main  lateral  veins  are  50°.  The  angle  a  a  corresponds  to  the 
angle  of  the  peduncle  upon  the  branch. 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  Ill 

at  the  top  of  which  there  is  a  clustering  of  lateral  veins. 
The  trunk  of  the  sycamore,  about  eight  or  ten  feet  above 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  commonly  divides  itself  into 
four  or  five  large  branches,  and,  in  precise  analogy,  we 
find  a  pretty  long  leaf-stalk  dividing  into  five  midribs. 
The  horse-chestnut  often  sends  off  at  the  top  of  its  bare 
trunk  (as  may  be  seen  in  hundreds  of  trees  in  Cushy 
Park)  a  still  greater  number  of  branches,  and  in  corre- 
spondence with  this  its  leaf  is  commonly  divided  into 
seven  leaflets.  This  correspondence  between  branching 
and  venation  is  very  strikingly  displayed  in  those  plants 
which  have  triplet  leaves,  such  as  broom  and  laburnum  ; 
a  careful  observation  of  a  number  of  such  will  satisfy 
any  one  that  the  axis,  in  the  one  a  few  inches,  and  in 
the  other  a  few  feet,  above  the  ground,  inclines  to  divide 
into  three  main  branches.  In  some  plants  there  is  a 
whorling  (approximately  in  the  sense  explained,  p.  96)  of 
leaves  at  the  point  at  which  they  issue  from  the  stem  ; 
this  may  be  seen  in  rhododendrons,  the  common  barber- 
ries, and  azelias.  In  these  plants  the  branches  also  go 
off  in  whorls,  as  any  one  may  satisfy  himself  by  the  most 
cursory  inspection. 

This  morphological  correspondence  may  be  seen  in  her- 
baceous plants  as  well  as  in  plants  with  woody  structure. 
We  have  the  triplet  leaf  and  triplet  stalk  in  marsh-trefoil, 
in  wood-sorrel,  and  clover,  and  the  wliorled  stalks,  with 
a  clustering  of  leaves  or  midribs,  in  lady's-mantle,  gera- 
nium, mallow,  and  lupin.  In  common  lady's-mantle  there 
are  several  midribs,  and,  in  the  mountain  species,  a 
whorling  of  leaves,  and  in  both  a  tendency  to  whorl  in  the 
stalks. 

So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  generalize  a  very  exten- 
sive series  of  facts  before  us,  we  are  inclined  to  lay  down 
the  provisional  law,  that  the  whole  leafage  coming  out  at 


112  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

one  place  on  the  stem  corresponds  to  the  whole  plant, 
and  that  the  venation  of  each  single  leaf  corresponds  to 
the  ramification  of  a  branch.  We  state  the  general 
axiom  in  this  form,  because  in  many  plants  more  leaves 
than  one  issue  from  one  point,  and  in  such  cases  it  seems 
to  be  not  the  single  leaf  but  the  whole  leafage  which  is 
the  type  of  the  tree. 

3.  There  is  a  correspondence  bctiveen  the  angle  at 
ivhich  the  branch  goes  off  and  that  at  which  the  lateral 
veins  go  off. — And  here,  again,  it  will  be  needful  to  have 
it  admitted  that  there  is  a  normal  angle  both  for  the 
lateral  leaf  veins  and  the  lateral  branches.  So  far  as 
the  lateral  veins  are  concerned,  it  will  be  acknowledged, 
by  every  one  who  has  ever  looked  with  care  at  the  form 
of  a  leaf,  that .  there  is  a  normal  angle  for  every  species 
of  plant.  An  inspection  of  any  leaf  picked  up  at  random 
will  shew  that  the  lateral  veins  run  nearly  parallel  to 
each  other  (see  cherry  leaf,  Fig.  12,  beech  leaf,  Fig.  24, 
lime  leaf,  Fig.  25),  and  that  in  certain  plants,  as  at  the 
base  of  the  poplar  leaf,  for  example  (see  Fig.  26),  the 
veins  so  off  at  a  much  more  obtuse  angle  than  in  certain 
other  plants,  as,  for  instance,  the  lime  (see  Fig.  25).  The 
leaves  of  the  elm  and  hazel  have  some  resemblance  to 
each  other,  but  may  at  once  be  distinguished  by  their 
angle  of  venation,  which  in  the  former  is  55°,  and  in  the 
latter  40°.  It  will  not  be  so  readily  allowed  that  there 
is  a  normal  angle  at  which  the  branch  goes  off  in  every 
species  of  tree.  We  have  heard  it  maintained  that  a 
branch  sets  off  from  the  axis  as  best  it  can,  taking  any 
empty  space  available  to  it,  and  in  search  of  air  to 
breathe  in  and  sun  to  warm  it.  But  a  very  little  careful 
observation,  with  this  special  object  in  view,  may  satisfy 
any  candid  mind  that  this  is  not  the  case,  and  that  the 
branches  tend  to  go  out  very  much  parallel  to  each  other, 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  113 

and  at  a  normal  angle,  for  every  species.  Any  one  may 
see  at  a  glance  that  the  elm  and  oak  branch  goes  off  at 
a  wider  angle  than  that  of  the  birch  or  beech.  No  doubt 
many  external  circumstances  tend  to  interfere  with  this 
internal  tendency.  A  branch  will  often  be  bent  clown 
by  its  own  weight,  or  turned  upward  by  another  branch, 
or  by  want  of  room  and  air,  or  spoiled  by  cattle  or  chil- 
dren, or  men,  still  the  tendency  will  manifest  itself,  even 
when  thwarted  ;  and  in  every  open  lawn,  duly  sheltered, 
there  will  be  trees  whose  skeleton  beautifully  displays  the 
native  direction  of  the  branches,  which  will  be  seen,  like 
the  leaf  veins,  to  run  very  much  parallel  to  each  other, 
and  within  a  few  degrees — now  on  the  one  side  and  now 
on  the  other  side — of  an  average  or  normal  angle,  which 
may  be  ascertained  by  a  number  of  measurements. 

When  it  is  acknowledged  that  there  is  a  normal 
angle  both  for  vein  and  branch,  what  we  may  call  the 
angle  of  venation  and  the  angle  of  ramification,  the 
cjuestion  is  started,  and  admits  of  being  answered,  Is 
there  a  correspondence  between  the  two  ?  We  may 
satisfy  ourselves  that  there  is,  in  a  general  way,  by  a 
bare  inspection,  or  by  taking  a  leaf,  abstracting  its  soft 
matter,  and  then  looking  through  the  skeleton  venation 
upon  the  ramification  of  the  branches,  and  comparing 
the  two.  Or  the  point  may  be  settled  more  scientifically 
by  using  a  goniometer,  consisting  of  a  graduated  semi- 
circle with  a  movable  index,  and  measuring  the  angle 
both  of  vein  and  branch.  The  angle  of  the  vein  is  easily 
ascertained,  and  the  angle  of  the  branch  may  also  be 
obtained  approximately  by  taking  a  series  of  measure- 
ments and  striking  the  average.  By  such  means  it  can 
be  proven  that  there  is  a  correspondence  between  the 
angle  of  venation  and  ramification  of  each  species  of 
plants.     In  most  plants  with  woody  structure  the  angle 


114 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


of  both  vein  and  branch  ranges  between  45°  and  60°. 
In  the  greater  number  of  herbaceous  plants*  the  angle 
varies  from  25°  to  40°.  But  both  in  trees  and  herba- 
ceous plants  there  are  angles  so  acute  as  10°  or  15°,  and 
so  obtuse  as  70°  or  75°.  So  far  as  we  have  observed 
there  are  no  normal  angles  more  obtuse  than  the  number 
last  named,  though  branches  are  often  bent  down  by  their 
own  weight,  so  as  to  stand  perpendicular  to  the  axis,  or 
are  even  inclined  at  an  acute  angle  to  the  part  of  the 
trunk  below  the  point  from  which  the  branch  springs. 

For  every  species  of  plant  which  we  have  examined 
there  is  a   definite  normal   angle   or   angles.     We   say 

angles,  for  the  angles  may 
differ  at  different  parts  of  the 
venation  and  ramification  of 
the  same  plant.  Thus,  in 
some  plants  the  angle  of  ve- 
nation is  widest  at  the  base, 
and  gradually  narrows  as  we 
ascend.  Whenever  this  is 
the  case  in  the  leaf  .there  is 
a  similar  narrowing  in  the 
ans;le  of  the  ramification  of 
the  branches.  It  is  seen  in 
a  marked  manner  in  the  pop- 
lar and  the  beech,  and  helps 
to  give  to  the  leaves  and  coma 
of  these  trees  that  rounded 
pyramidal  form  by  which  they  are  distinguished.  More 
frequently  there  is   a   difference   between  the  angle  at 

*  Dr.  M'Cosh  has  here  to  express  his  obligation  to  a  most  excellent  bnt  extremely 
modest  man,  Mr.  Mitchell,  formerly  schoolmaster  at  Edzell,  now  in  the  City  Mission. 
Edinburgh,  for  help  in  applying  his  theory  to  herbaceous  plants. 

t  Fig.  26.  Poplar  leaf,  as  an  example  of  leaf  with  leaf-stalk.  The  primary  angle  of 
venation  begins  at  70°,  .and  lessens  as  we  ascend  the  midrib. 


Fig.  2G.+ 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  115 

which  the  main  lateral  veins  and  main  lateral  branches 
go  off  from  the  midrib  or  axis,  and  that  at  which  the 
lesser  veins  and  branches  go  off  either  from  the  midrib 
or  axis,  or  from  the  main  lateral  veins  and  branches. 
We  may  call  the  former  of  these,  that  is,  the  angle  made 
by  mail  veins  and  branches,  the  primary  angle,  and  that 
made  by  lesser  branches  and  veins,  the  secondary  angle. 
In  looking  at  the  lime  leaf,  {Fig.  25,)  we  may  notice 
that  the  main  veins  (primary)  go  off  at  a  much  more 
acute  angle  than  certain  smaller  veins  (secondary). 
Using  this  nomenclature,  we  have  found  that  the  primary 
angle  of  the  venation  of  the  leaf  is  the  same  with  the 
primary  angle  of  the  ramification  of  the  stem,  and  that 
the  secondary  angle  of  venation  is  the  same  as  the  secon- 
dary angle  of  ramification. 

In  measuring  angles,  then,  it  will  be  necessary  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  primary  and  secondary  angles  of 
ramification  and  venation.  In  applying  this  distinction 
to  herbaceous  plants,  we  found  that  the  angle  at  which 
the  peduncle,  that  is,  the  flower-stalk,  goes  off,  corresponds 
not  to  the  primary,  but  secondary,  angle  of  venation.  In 
following  out  this  system,  however,  we  often  experience 
a  difficulty  in  ascertaining  whether  we  are  measuring  the 
angle  of  a  true  branch,  or  peduncle,  as  botanists  do  not 
seem  to  have  laid  down  any  rules  to  enable  us  to  distin- 
guish between  these  organs. 

It  appears,  then,  that  on  inspecting  the  ramification 
and  venation  of  any  given  plant,  we  may  observe  a  nor- 
mal primary  angle  which  is  the  same  both  for  main 
lateral  vein  and  main  lateral  branch,  and  also  a  secondary 
normal  angle  for  the  lesser  veins,  (whether  proceeding 
from  the  lateral  veins  or  from  the  midrib,)  and  for  the 
lesser  branches,  including  the  peduncle.  This  secondary 
angle  is  in  some  few  plants  more  acute  than  the  primary, 


116 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


Thus  in  the  common  dock  the  primary  angle  is  60°,  and 
the  secondary  angle  of  flower-stalk  and  lesser  veins  about 
40°.  But  in  most  plants  the  secondary  angle  is  the  more 
obtuse,  and  helps,  when  it  is  so,  to  give  to  the  tree  its  out- 
spreading appearance.  Thus  in  the  lime  (see  Fig.  25) 
this  primary  angle  is  42',  and  the  secondary  about  50  , 
and  in  the  oak  the  primary  is  50",  and  the  secondary 
angle  about  65°.  The  following  may  serve  as  examples 
of  the  angles  of  venation  and  ramification  in  some  of  out 
common  plants  :* — 

Plants  with  Woody  Structure. 

Deg.  Deo. 

Alder,          .         .         .         .50  Laurustinus,         .         .         .     50-55 

Ash 60  Lime, 42 

Bay  Laurel,          .         .         .     50-60  Small  veins  and  branches,     50-55 

Beech,          .         .                  .     45-4S  Maple,          ....     40-45 

Birch, .         .         .         .     -    .     30-48  Lesser  veins  and  branches,  55 

Box,             ....     60  Mountain  Ash,     .         .         .45 

Cherry,         .         .         .         .50  Oak,  large  branches,    .         .     50 

Elm, 50-55  Smaller  veins  and  branches,  65-70 

Hazel,          .         .         .         .42  Rhododendron,    .                  .60 

Holly, 55  Rose, 60 

Horse  Chestnut,  .         .         .50  Sycamore,    ....     50-55 

Laburnum,  .        .        .        .60  Willow,  angle  varies  in  each  species. 


Herbaceous  Plants. 

Primary  Angle. 
Deg. 

Secondary  Angle. 
Deg. 

Chenopodium  glaucum, 
urbicum,    . 

40 
40 

50 
40 

Geranium,    . 

35 

1 

varies  in  each  species, 
in  some,  60 

Geum  intermedium, 

30 

30 

montanum, 

35-38 

50 

Ranunculus, 

25-28 

differs  hi  each  species. 

Scrophularia  aquatica, . 
nodosa, 

40 
40 

50-60 
50 

Sinapsis  nigra, 
Valeriana  officinalis, 

40-45 
30  (vein) 

50-55 
45 

*  We  are  willing  to  admit  that  in  following  out  these  views,  anomalies  will  present 


IN  THE  OKGANS  OF  PLANTS.  117 

We  have  found  that  the  angle  of  the  peduncle  seems 
specially  to  correspond  to  the  angle  made  by  a  vein 
coming  forth  near  the  top  of  the  main  lateral  veins. 
(See  a  in  Fig.  25.)  Let  us  here  recall  the  doctrine  pre- 
viously enunciated,  (see  p.  95,)  that  the  pistil  is  a  leaf 
folded  on  itself,  as  may  be  seen  very  evidently  in  a  pea- 
pod.*  If  we  inspect  the  interior  of  such  a  pea-pod,  we 
shall  find  the  seed  coming  off.  very  obviously  from  the 
top  of  a  lateral  vein.  We  now  see  that  in  the  leaf  a 
lesser  vein,  bearing  seed  in  the  pea-pod,  corresponds  in 
the  ramification  to  the  peduncle  bearing  the  flower. 
This  completes  the  correspondence  between  the  leaf  and 
the  plant  on  which  it  grows. 

4.  Tliere  is  a  correspondence  between  the  curve  of 
the  vein  and  the  curve  of  the  corresponding  branches. — 
Here  we  must  once  more  insist  that  every  vein  and 
every  branch  has  its  normal  curve.  We  have  not  been 
able  to  express  this  curve  in  a  mathematical  formula,  but 
the  eye  testifies  that  it  has  a  mathematical  regularity, 
and  that  there  is  a  correspondence  between  the  curve  of 
the  vein  and  that  of  the  branch. 

The  parts  whose  disposition  and  direction  we  have 
been  examining,  are  those  which  are  chiefly  instrumental 
in  giving  their  normal  figure  to  the  plant  and  its  leaf ; 
and  as  the  part  in  the  leaf  has  a  correspondence  with  the 
part  in  the  branch,  it  follows  that  there  may  be  a  certain 
correspondence  between  the  form  assumed  by  the  leaf 
and  that  towards  which  the  whole  tree  tends.     We  use 

themselves.  Thus,  in  plants  with  decurrent  leaves,  such  as  thistles,  the  decurrency  of 
the  leaf  seems  often  to  make  the  angle  of  the  vein  wider  than  that  of  the  branch.  In 
the  Looibardy  poplar  the  angle  of  the  branches  seems  to  correspond  not  to  the  primary 
but  secondary  angle  of  venation.  These  anomalies  will  turn  out  to  be  as  instructive  as 
the  more  regular  phenomena. 

*  Schleiden,  it  may  be  proper  to  mention,  considers  this  to  be  a  stem  pistil.  There  is 
a  point  here,  a  transition  point,  at  which  the  correspondence  between  leaf  and  branch 
becomes  very  close  and  visible. 


118  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

the  restricted  language,  may  be  a  certain  correspondence,, 
for  there  are  special  circumstances  which  may  modify 
the  forms  of  leaf  or  plant,  and  make  them  differ  from 
each  other.  Where  the  leaves  are  pinnate — that  is, 
arranged  like  the  barbs  of  a  feather  along  a  common 
axis,  there  is  no  resemblance  between  the  leafage  and 
whole  plant.*  This  does  not  prove  that  leaf  venation 
and  branch  are  not  homotypal,  any  more  than  the  differ- 
ence between  the  fore  and  hind  limbs  in  animals  shews 
that  these  two  parts  are  not  homotypal.  And  in  not  a 
few  cases  the  general  resemblance  between  plant  and 
tree  is  very  visible,  as — to  take  the  trees  whose  outline 
strikes  the  eye,  and  prints  itself  on  the  fancy  in  all  our 
landscapes — -in  the  swelling  lime,  and  the  spreading  elm, 
and  the  heavy-topped  oak  ;  and  trees  which  stand  upon 
an  unbranched  stalk,  as  the  sycamore,  with  sturdy  ribs 
and  swelling  chest,  and  the  birch  and  poplar,  with  their 
coma  first  rotund,  and  then  tapering  gracefully  to  a 
point.  In  not  a  few  plants  the  correspondence  becomes 
minutely,  we  had  almost  said  ludicrously,  exact,  and  may 
be  detected  in  the  most  trivial  particulars.  Thus  the 
stems  of  some  trees,  such  as  the  thorn  and  laburnum,  are 
not  straight,  and  the  branches  have  a  twisted  form  ;  and 
in  these  plants  the  venation  is  not  straight,  and  the 
leafage  is  not  in  one  plane — in  this  respect  very  unlike 
the  beech.  But  in  the  beech  there  is  a  no  less  curious 
correspondence,  for  the  stems  take  a  turn  at  every 
node  at  which  they  send  off  a  branch,   and  the  mid- 

*  We  would  not  speak  on  this  subject  with  confidence,  but  it  seems  to  us  that  when 
the  leaf  is  pinnate,  the  tree  is  decomposite  -that  is,  instead  of  sending  up  one  main  axis 
(like  the  beech,  the  poplar,  Arc.)  from  bottom  to  top,  it  sends  off  in  a  scattered  way,  as  it 
ascends  branch  after  branch,  till  the  axis  is  lost.  We  have  noticed  this  in  ash,  mountain 
ash,  walnut,  Mahonias,  Acacias,  and  also  Ailanthus  glandulosus,  Gymnocladus  Canad- 
ensis, Koelcreuteria,  Sophora  Japonica,  and  Robinias,  (R.  pseudo-acacia  and  R.  viscosa,) 
&c.  We  have  also  noticed  a  frequent,  though,  we  suspect,  by  no  means  invaiiable, 
connexion  between  the  doubly  pinnate  leaf  and  the  umbelliferous  structure. 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  119 

rib  of  the  leaf  has  a  similar  zigzag  appearance.     (See 
Fig.  24.) 

Such  points  as  these  should  be  carefully  noticed  and 
attended  to  by  the  landscape  painter  and  by  the  pruner. 
When  the  commonwealth  of  taste  is  properly  constituted, 
one  of  its  first  laws  will  be  passed  against  the  common 
mode  of  pruning,  which  cuts  trees  into  all  sorts  of  un- 
natural shapes,  and  in  particular,  pays  no  regard  to  each 
plant's  peculiarity  of  beauty.  We  can  excuse  the  old 
Scotch  Earl  who  planted  his  trees  in  groups,  to  represent 
the  position  of  the  troops  which  gained  a  victory  under 
him,  for  if  he  thereby  spoiled  the  beauties  of  nature,  he 
at  least  imparted  some  knowledge  of  military  art ;  but 
those  who,  in  ornamental  lawns,  form  spherical  yews  and 
conical  laurels — those  who  force  plants  to  resemble  beasts, 
birds,  or  fishes — those  who  give  the  oak  or  elm  a  bare 
stalk — those  who  cut  over  a  poplar  to  make  it  bushy  from 
the  base — those  who  break  off  the  triplet  from  the  broom 
or  laburnum,  or  deprive  the  lime,  or  the  chestnut,  or  the 
sycamore  of  its  whorl,  should  themselves,  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  exacting  one  member  for  another,  be  subjected 
to  a  similar  pruning  process,  and  this  because  of  the 
offence  which  they  commit  against  nature  without  and 
nature  within  them. 

These  observations  apply  to  plants  which  have  leaves 
veined,  unfolded,  and  presenting  a  surfaco  to  the  eye. 
We  now  turn  to  plants  which  have  needle-shaped  or 
linear  leaves.  Such  leaves  correspond,  we  believe,  to  the 
individual  stems  proceeding  from  the  axis  or  branches. 
But  our  observations  have  been  confined  to  the  great 
family  of  the  Coniferse,  so  called  because  their  seed- 
vessels  are  cone-shaped.  In  what  follows,  our  illustra- 
tions are  to  be  taken  chiefly  from  pines  and  firs.,  the 


120 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


only  portions  of  the  large  family  of  cone-bearers  which 
we  have  had  an  opportunity  of  carefully  inspecting. 

It  is  obvious,  on  the  most  cursory  observation,  that  a 
unity  runs  through  the  whole  of  the  structure  of  each  of 
this  tribe  of  plants.  We  may  notice  first,  how  the  ap- 
pendages are  regularly  arranged  in  a  series  of  whorls 
(using  this  phrase  in  the  loose  sense  previously  explained) 
along  the  whole  axis.  There  is,  first  of  all,  a  whorling 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  cotyledons,  or  first  springing 
leaves.  Some  botanists  have  represented  the  cotyledons 
of  the  Conifene  as  numerous  ;  others  are  inclined  to 
think  that  there  are  only  two  cotyledons,  and  that  each 
of  these  is  cleft  into  a  number  of  parts  ;  all  agree  that 
the  parts  arc  whorled.  Looking  to  the  axis  above  ground, 
we  observe  the  same  arrangement  repeated  in  the 
branches,  which  come  out  at  the  nodes  in  a  succession  of 
whorls  from  the  base  to  the  top  cf  the  axis.  Every  node 
and  internode  of  the  pine  is  of  the  same  construction  as 
eveiy  other. 

We  may  notice  further,  how  the  whole  tree,  composed 
of  stem  and  branches,  is  made,  by  the  evidently  prede- 
termined arrangement  of  these  parts,  to  assume  in  its 
outline  a  most  elegant  figure.  The  form  is  that  of  the 
cone,  rounded  off  gracefully  at  the  base.  We  are  aware 
that  in  many  cases  the  lower  branches,  especially  if  eaten 
by  cattle,  fall  off  as  the  tree  grows  old,  and  show  a  bare 
trunk  surmounted  by  a  bushy  top  :  thus,  when  the  lower 
branches  of  the  broad-topped  stone  pine  fall  away,  we 
have  that  picturesque,  umbrella-shaped  figure,  which  so 
often  appears  in  Italian  scenery  and  Italian  paintings. 
But,  in  its  natural  and  normal  shape,  every  cone-bearer 
seems  to  be  feathered  from  near  the  root.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  notice,  that  if  we  were  to  intersect  the  tree  hori- 
zontally at  any  one  node,  the  part  cut  off  above  would 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  121 

always  be  a  cone,  somewhat  similar  in  shape  to  the  whole 
tree.  This,  no  doubt,  results  from  the  nature  of  the 
cone  as  a  mathematical  figure  ;  but  on  noticing  the  fact, 
we  are  the  more  impressed  with  the  peculiar  fitness  of 
the  pre-arrangement  which  makes  stem  and  branches 
produce  so  perfect  a  figure.  While  the  whole  family 
affect  this  general  form,  we  may  observe  that  every  spe- 
cies takes  a  shape  of  its  own,  so  that  we  can  at  once 
determine  what  it  is  at  a  considerable  distance.  Some, 
like  the  common  spruce  fir,  have  a  sharp  apex,  and  look 
as  if  they  pointed  to  heaven  ;  while  others,  like  the  stone 
pine,  are  broad  and  bushy,  and  look  as  if  they  delighted 
to  embrace  and  shelter  the  earth.  There  is  one  beauty 
of  the  finely-proportioned  cluster  pine,  another  beauty  of 
the  sturdy  Scotch  fir,  another  beauty  of  the  tapering- 
Douglas  fir,  another  beauty  of  the  graceful  Weymouth, 
another  beauty  of  the  shaggy  Montezuma,  and  another 
beauty  of  the  brawny  Coulter  pine,  as  he  flings  out  his 
arms  so  powerfully.  No  attempt  should  be  made,  by 
cutting  or  bending,  to  make  any  one  species  take  the 
form  of  any  other ;  all  such  officious  meddling,  on  the 
part  of  man,  will  only  mar  the  beauty  of  the  Divine 
workmanship.  A  lawn  is  fairest  to  look  on  when  differ- 
ent species  are  planted  on  it,  when  each  is  allowed  to 
grow  naturally,  and  has  room  allotted  to  it  to  shew  its 
peculiar  type  and  beauty. 

Turning  now  to  the  inspection  of  the  seed-vessels,  we 
find  them,  as  their  name  (cones)  denotes,  moulded  after 
the  same  form  ;  nay,  the  very  clusters  or  bunches  of 
stamens  (amenta)  are  made  to  assume  a  conical  shape. 
It  is  evident  that,  in  this  tribe  of  plants,  there  is  a  sig- 
nificancy  in  this  beautiful  mathematical  figure  ;  and  we 
are  inclined  to  ask  whether  it  was  not  some  mystic  per- 
ception of  this  which  led  the  ancient  Assyrians  to  assign 

6 


122 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


so  important  a  place  to  the  cone  in  those  sacred  symbols 
which  have  become  so  familiar  to  us  by  the  researches  of 
Dr.  Layard  ?  But  without  insisting  on  this,  we  think 
we  are  justified  in  affirming  that  the  circumstance  that 
the  cones,  formed  of  scales,  which  are  modified  leaves, 
and  amenta,  which  are  also  formed  of  modified  leaves, 
taking  the  same  shape  as  the  tree,  formed  of  branches,  is 
another  illustration  of  the  tendency  of  leaf  and  branch  to 
obey  the  same  laws  and  follow  the  same  dispositions. 

Not  only  is  there  a  general  resemblance  between  cone 
and  tree  ;  we  are  inclined  to  think,  from  a  pretty  exten- 
sive observation,  that  the  full-grown  and  expanded  cone 
not  unfrequently  tends  to  take  the  shape  of  the  particular 
species  of  tree  on  which  it  grows.  It  would  require  a 
series  of  measurements,  such  as  we  have  not  had  it  in  our 
power  to  make,  to  establish  this  truth  scientifically,  but  a 
general  correspondence  is  often  obvious 
to  the  eye.  Thus,  to  take  some  of  the 
species  most  marked  in  themselves,  and 
best  known  among  us.  The  common 
Norway  spruce  is  tall  in  proportion  to 
its  width,  and  so  also  its  cone.  (See 
Fig.  27.)  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Abies  Douglasii,  which,  moreover,  has 
a  sharp  apex  ;  the  cone  tends  to  assume 
the  same  shape.  In  striking  contrast 
is  the  stone  pine,  (Pinus  Pinea,  see 
Fig.  28,)  in  which  both  cone  and  tree 
are  wide  in  proportion  to  their  height. 
The  cluster  pine  (P.  Pinaster)  is  beau- 
tifully proportioned  in  its  length  and  breadth,  both  in 


Fig.  27.* 


*  Fia.  27.  Cone  of  Abies  excelsa,  bearing  a  resemblance  to  a  tree,  and  shewing  a  set 
of  spirals  from  right  to  left,  and  another  set  from  left  to  right.  These  sets  of  spirals, 
crossing  each  other,  produce  on  tho  surface  of  the  cone  rho:nbol  ':il  figures. 


IN    THE    ORGANS    OF    PLANTS. 


123 


tree  and  cone.    (See  Fig.  29.)    Contrasted  with  this,  both 
the  tree  and  cone  of  Pimis  pumila  have  a  crushed  ap- 


Fig.  28* 


Fig.  29.+ 


pearance.  Coulter's  pine  has  heavy,  wide-spreading 
branches,  and  its  cone  is  of  a  rotund,  bulky  shape.  The 
cone  of  the  Labrador  pine  (P.  Banksiana)  is  often  bulged 
at  one  of  the  sides,  and  any  of  the  trees  which  we  have 
seen  have  a  straggling,  misshapen  appearance. 

We  now  proceed  to  give  the  result  of  a  series  of  obser- 
vations"]: in  regard  to  the  dispositions  of  the  scales  of  the 
cone  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree. 

(1.)  The  scales  are  arranged  along  the  axis  of  the  cone 

*  Fig.  2S.  Cone  of  Finns  Pinea;  clumpy  like  the  tree,  shewing  the  two  sets  of  spirals 
crossing  each  other,  and  producing  rhomboldal  figures,  whose  angles  are  approximately 
above  and  below  120°  and  00°  at  each  of  the  sides. 

+  Fxg.  29.  Cone  of  Pinus  Pinaster,  shewing  the  two  sets  of  spirals,  and  rhomboids 
with  definite  angles. 

X  In  making  these  observations,  Br.  M'Cosh  has  examined,  with  more  or  less  care, 
nearly  every  cone  In  the  Museums  of  Kew,  of  the  Linnsean  Society,  and  of  the  Fdiri 
burgh  Botanic  Garden,  all  of  which  have  been  kindly  thrown  open  to  him. 


124  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

in  a  spiral  manner.  As  the  basis  of  the  whole,  there 
seems  to  be  a  governing  spiral — that  is,  the  scales  are 
attached  to  the  axis  in  a  regular  spiral.  This  spiral  is 
at  times  from  right  to  left,  and  at  other  times  from  left 
to  right,  and  we  have  not  been  able  to  discover  any  law 
determining  which  of  these  courses  it  should  pursue  ;  it 
certainly  is  not  determined  by  its  position  on  the  tree,  or 
by  the  course  of  the  sun  in  the  heavens.  The  scales  in 
this  spiral  being  at  equal  distances,  necessitate  mathe- 
matically other  three  spirals,  or  four  spirals  in  all — one 
of  these,  the  governing  spiral,  and  another,  running  in 
the  same  direction,  and  other  two  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. Sometimes  all  of  these  spirals  can  be  noticed  ;  in 
all  cases  two  are  very  visible,  one  from  right  to  left,  the 
other  from  left  to  right.     (See  Figs.  27,  28,  29.) 

On  comparing  the  cone  with  the  branch,  we  find  a  dis- 
position in  the  appendages  of  the  latter  similar  to  those 
of  the  former.  The  leaves  on  the  young  stem  and  the 
scars  left  when  these  leaves  fall  off,  form  invariably  two 
sets  of  visible  spirals,  one  from  right  to  left,  and  the  other 
from  left  to  right. 

(2.)  The  two  sets  of  visible  spirals  form,  by  their  in- 
tersection, a  series  of  very  beautiful  and  mathematically 
regular  rhomboidal  figures  on  the  surface  of  the  cone. 
(See  Figs.  27,  28,  29.) 

The  elegance  of  the  whole  figure,  with  these  spiral 
gjTations,  which  allure  on  the  eye,  and  these  well-defined 
lozenge  shapes  on  the  surface,  form  the  ground,  if  we  do 
not  mistake,  of  children's  predilection  for  cones.  When 
they  gather  these  so  eagerly  and  industriously,  when  they 
play  with  them  for  such  a  length  of  time,  it  must  be  be- 
cause of  some  unconscious  perception  of  the  visible  har- 
monies— a  perception  which  they  could  not  of  couise 
scientifically  expound,  or  even  express  to  others.     And  it 


IN   THE   ORGANS   OF    PLANTS.  125 

would  be  well  for  us  in  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  not 
contemptuously  to  cast  away  the  simple  tastes  of  our 
childhood,  but  rather  to  cherish  them,  and  put  them 
meanwhile  under  the  guidance  of  a  matured  understand- 
ing. A  pine-cone  will  reward  the  study  for  hours  toge- 
ther of  the  very  highest  intellect.  Here,  as  in  numerous 
other  instances,  science,  in  following  up  our  spontaneous 
tastes,  will  unfold  wonders  on  which  the  reason  gazes  with 
profound  interest. 

If  we  measure  these  rhomboidal  figures  on  the  surface 
of  the  cones  of  pines  and  firs,  we  find  that  the  angles  are 
definite,  being  approximately  120°  above  and  below,  and 
60°  at  the  sides.  (See  Figs.  27,  28,  29.)  We  use  the 
language  approximately,  because  there  is  often,  as  might 
be  expected,  a  departure  from  the  normal  angle  on  the 
one  side  or  the  other,  but  the  actual  angles  stick  so 
closely,  on  the  one  side  or  other,  to  the  numbers  given, 
that  we  may  regard  these  as  the  normal  ones.  The 
eye,  or  rather  the  intellect,  feels  a  pleasure  in  contem- 
plating such  a  figure,  made  up  of  two  equilateral  triangles, 
and  in  every  respect  so  beautifully  proportioned,  and  com- 
bining an  easily  observable  unity  with  an  easily  observable 
variety. 

On  the  stems  likewise,  the  intersection  of  the  two  spi- 
rals formed  by  leaves,  and  the  scars  of  fallen  leaves,  forms 
a  series  of  rhomboids.  We  cannot  speak  so  confidently 
of  the  angles  of  these  rhomboids  as  of  those  of  the  cone, 
but  we  have  found  in  many  cases  that  when  the  leaves 
have  fallen  off  and  the  scars  are  visible,  the  angles  at  two 
of  the  opposite  corners  arc  approximately  120°,  and  at  the 
other  two  opposite  corners  60°.  But  there  is  this  differ- 
ence between  the  rhomboids  on  the  cone  and  the  rhom- 
boids on  the  stem,  that  whereas  in  the  former  the  angle 
is  120°  above   and   below,  and  60°  at  the  sides,  in  the 


126  TRACES    OF    OKDER 

latter  the  angle  is  120°  at  the  sides,  and  60°  above  and 
below.  We  have  found  these  numbers  very  often  on  the 
stem  of  a  few  years  old  ;  as  it  becomes  older  the  rhom- 
boid is  less  elongated,  but  by  this  time  the  scars  are  be- 
ginning to  disappear,  being  covered  up  with  the  bark. 

This  arrangement  produces  on  the  surface  of  the  cone 
a  series  of  quincunxes,  a  figure  which  has  long  been  re- 
garded as  possessing  many  virtues.  Virgil,  in  his  Georgics, 
in  giving  directions  for  planting  trees,  says,  "  Indulge  or 
dinibus,"  and  recommends  the  quincunx. 

"  Omnia  sint  paribus  numeris  dimensa  viarum, 
Non  animum  modo  uti  pascat  prospectus  inanera, 
Sed  quia  non  aliter  vires  dabit  omnibus  sequas 
Terra." 

VlRG.  GeORG.  II.,  284-286. 

Speaking  of  the  same  figure,  Quintilian  says,  "  Quid 
quincunce  speciosius  qui  in  quamcunque  partem  specta- 
veris  rectus  est."  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  in  his  ingenious 
though  fanciful  work,  entitled  "  The  Quincunx  Mystically 
Considered,"  seems  to  have  had  pleasant  glimpses  of  the 
truths  to  be  discovered  by  the  study  of  the  cone-bearers, 
"  Now,  if  for  this  order  we  affect  coniferous  and  tapering 
trees,  particularly  the  cypress,  which  grows  in  a  conical 
figure,  we  have  found  a  tree  not  only  of  great  ornament, 
but,  in  its  essentials  of  affinity  unto  this  order,  a  solid 
rhombus,  being  made  by  the  conversion  of  two  equicru- 
ral  cones,  as  Archimedes  hath  deponed.  But  these  were 
the  common  trees  about  Babylon  and  the  East,  whereof 
the  ark  was  made."  "  But,"  he  adds,  "  the  Firr  and  Pine 
Tree  do  naturally  dictate  this  position  ;  the  rhomboidal 
protuberances  in  pine-apples  maintaining  this  quincun- 
cial  order  into  each  other,  and  each  rhombus  in  itself. 
Thus  are  also  disposed  the  triangular  foliations  in  the 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  127 

conical  fruit  of  the  Firr  tree,  orderly  shadowing  and  pro- 
tecting the  winged  seeds  below  them/' 

(3.)  There  is,  we  have  said,  a  very  visible  set  of  spirals 
going  from  right  to  left,  and  another  very  visible  set 
from  left  to  right  on  the  surface  of  the  cone.  In  these 
sets  there  is  a  definite  number  of  spirals.  We  propose, 
in  the  absence  of  an  authorized  word,  calling  the  parts  or 
numbers  of  a  set  of  spirals,  threads.  The  number  of 
threads,  in  a  set  of  spirals  in  all  coniferte,  seems  some 
one  of  the  following  numbers,  1,  2,  3,  5,  8,  13,  21,  34, 
&c,  in  which  scale  any  two  contiguous  numbers  added 
together  gives  the  succeeding  one.  We  have  already 
fallen  in  with  this  remarkable  series  of  numbers  in  leaf 
arrangement  ;  it  now  casts  up  once  more  in  a  somewhat 
different,  and  probably  a  more  fundamental  relation.  In 
the  case  before  considered,  these  numbers  were  merely 
the  more  common  ones  ;  in  the  case  now  before  us  they 
seem  to  be  invariable  ones.  On  the  supposition  that  the 
spiral,  more  or  less  modified,  governs  the  arrangement  of 
the  appendages  of  all  plants,  we  are  inclined  to  look  on 
this  series  as  having  a  deep  significancy  in  the  morpho- 
logy of  the  plant. 

We  have  observed  that  there  is  a  constant  relation  in 
the  number  of  threads  in  the  two  sets  of  spirals.  What- 
ever the  number  of  threads  in  the  one  set  of  spirals — ■ 
say  that  proceeding  from  right  to  left — the  number  in 
the  other — those  proceeding  from  left  to  right — is  always 
one  or  other  of  the  contiguous  ones  in  the  above  scale. 
The  number  of  spirals  in  the  two  intersecting  sets  are 
1  and  2,  or  2  and  3,  or  5  and  8,  or  8  and  13,  or  13  and 
21,  or  21  and  34.  Thus,  if  the  number  of  threads  in 
the  one  set  of  spirals — say  that  proceeding  from  right  to 
left — is  5,  the  number  in  the  other  set — that  proceeding 
from  left  to  right — will  be  either  3  or  8.     These  nume- 


128 


TRACES    OF    ORDER 


Fig.  30  * 


rical  relations  seem  to  regulate  the  sets  of  spirals  in  all 
coniferee.  In  pines  the  number  of  threads  in  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  species,  is  5  and  8.  In  a  few  species 
the  numbers  are  3  and  5,  and  in  a  few  others  8  and  13 

In  Araucauria  imbricata 
the  number  of  threads  in 
the  two  sets  respectively  is 
21  and  34. 

In  the  disposition  of  the 
scars  on  the  stems  there  are 
similar  numerical  relations. 
Thus  the  number  of  threads 
is  one  or  other  of  the  num- 
bers in  the  scale,  1,  2,  3,  5, 
8,  &c.,  and  the  numbers  of 
the  two  sets  are  always  contiguous  ones  in  this  scale. 
Thus,  if  the  number  of  threads  in  the  one  set  of  spirals 
is  3,  the  number  in  the  other  will  either  be  2  or  5.  We 
have  remarked,  however,  that  the  number  of  threads  in 
the  spirals  of  the  branch  is  commonly  less  or  lower  in 
the  scale  than  the  number  of  threads  in  the  spiral  of  the 
cone.  In  pines  the  common  numbers  for  the  cone  are  5 
and  8,  whereas  the  numbers  for  the  visible  spirals  on  the 
stem  are  5  and  3. 

(4.)  We  have  found  in  the  cones  of  pines  and  firs,  (so 
far  as  we  have  examined  them,)  that  all  the  spirals  in 
one  of  the  sets,  and  this  invariably  the  one  which  con- 
tains the  greater  number  of  threads,  take  approximately 
just  one  turn  in  going  from  the  base  to  the  top  of  the 
cone,  that  is,  each  goes  round  the  axis  once,  and  stops  at 
the  apex  perpendicularly  over  the  point  from  which  it 

*  Fig.  30.  Diagram  shewing  that  two  sets  of  spirals  set  out  from  the  base  of  a  cone, 
and  that  there  is  a  relation  between  the  number  of  spirals  in  the  two  sets.  In  the  dia- 
gram the  number  proceeding  from  left  to  right  is  5,  and  the  number  from  right  to  left 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  PLANTS.  129 

started.  Thus,  if  the  spirals  be  8  and  5,  (as  in  Fig. 
30,)  then  each  of  the  8  Avill  be  found  to  have  taken  one 
complete  turn  before  it  reaches  the  apex,  and  if,  the 
numbers  be  13  and  8,  the  13  will  be  found  to  have 
twisted  themselves  once  round  the  axis.  This  seems  to 
be  the  rule  followed  by  the  set  of  spirals  containing  the 
larger  number.  The  other  set  appears  also  to  have  a  rule. 
In  cones  with  the  ordinary  relation  between  the  height 
and  width,  that  is,  where  the  circumference  is  greater 
than  the  height,  the  number  of  turns  made  by  the  set  of 
spirals  of  the  lower  number  is  2,  that  is,  the  spirals  go 
twice  round  the  axis  before  reaching  the  apex.  But  in 
cones  whose  height  is  great  in  proportion  to  their  width, 
whose  length  is  greater  than  their  circumference,  as, 
for  example,  Pinus  Strobus,  Pinaster,  excelsa,  monticola, 
Lambertiana,  filifolia,  and  Abies  alba,  excelsa,  Douglasii, 
the  number  of  turns  taken  by  the  spirals  is  3. 

Such  co-ordinated  facts  as  these  may  possess  little 
interest  to  the  mere  technical  naturalist,  whose  sole  aim 
is  to  discover  new  genera  and  species,  or  the  mere  prac- 
tical horticulturist  or  arboriculturist,  whose  object  is  to 
find  plants  of  commercial  value.  But  they  tend  to  raise 
up  profound  reflections  in  the  truly  philosophical  mind, 
and  open  up  glimpses  to  the  religious  mind  of  the  deep 
things  of  God.  They  shew  that  the  plant,  and  all  its 
members,  had  been  before  the  mind  of  God  prior  to  the 
time  when  He  said,  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass, 
the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree  yielding  fruit 
after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself  upon  the  earth,  and 
it  was  so  ;"  "  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good."  Mathe- 
matical figures,  more  or  less  modified  to  suit  special 
ends,  make  their  appearance  everywhere  among  the 
members  of  the  plant.  The  mathematical  spiral  regu- 
lates the  arrangement  of  all  the  appendages  of  the  plant. 

6* 


130  TRACES   OF   SPECIAL   ADAPTATION 

Even  the  lines  which  man  lias  not  been  able  to  express 
in  mathematical  formula?,  such,  as  the  curve  of  the  veins 
and  branches,  and  the  outline  of  the  coma  of  a  tree,  are 
evidently  regulated  by  models  in  the  mind  of  the  Divine 
Architect.  Numerical  relations  of  a  most  interesting 
character  cast  up  among  every  class  of  plants,  and  among 
all  the  organs  of  every  plant.  All  appendicular  organs, 
whether  belonging  to  the  nutritive  or  reproductive  sys- 
tem, are  homotypes.  Nay,  correspondences  may  be 
detected  between  the  disposition  and  the  distribution  of 
branches  and  leaf  veins,  sufficient  to  entitle  us  to  repre- 
sent root,  stem,  and  leaf,  as  homotypes,  and  to  prove 
that  there  is  a  unity  of  composition  in  the  structure  of 
the  whole  plant. 

SECT.  II. TRACES    OF   SPECIAL  ADAPTATION    IN  THE  ORGANS  OF 

THE   PLANT. 

Our  aim  in  this  chapter  is  to  shew  that  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  plant  there  are  combined  simplicity  of  general 
plan  and  variety  of  modification,  the  latter  for  special 
ends.  Having  endeavoured  in  the  preceding  section  to 
demonstrate  the  first  great  truth,  we  are  in  this  section 
to  illustrate  the  second. 

It  is  evident  that  stem  and  common  leaves  would  not 
suffice  to  fit  the  plant  for  the  discharge  of  all  its  func- 
tions. It  needs,  among  others,  organs  or  appendages  for 
covering,  for  support,  and  for  enabling  it  to  propagate 
and  perpetuate  itself.  To  meet  these  wants  members 
are  found  to  spring  up  at  the  very  place  where  they  are 
needed,  and  at  the  very  time  when  they  are  needed  ; 
and  when  they  appear  they  come  not  as  absolutely  new 
organs,  but  after  the  old  type,  modified  to  serve  the 
present  purpose.     Does  the  plant  demand  a  covering  ? — 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  THE  PLANT.         131 

the  leaf  becomes  a  scale,  or  the  cuticle  produces  hairs  for 
that  purpose.  Is  defence  required  against  external 
attack  ? — leaves  or  branches  become  sharpened  or  hard- 
ened at  the  point,  and  the  whole  plant,  or  the  more 
assailable  parts  of  it,  are  bristled  all  over  with  spines  or 
prickles.  That  the  species  may  live  on  in  a  new  indi- 
vidual, the  leaf  takes  a  yet  greater  departure  from  its 
type,  and  becomes  a  stamen  or  pistil.  The  general  plan 
of  the  Great  Architect  is  kept  up,  and  yet  every  several 
member  fulfils  a  purpose.  We  cannot  conceive  of  stronger 
or  more  convincing  evidence  of  design  being  supplied  to 
human  intelligence. 

1.    ORGANS    OF    VEGETATION. 

The  general  structure  of  the  leaf  has  been  already 
described  ;  we  are  now  to  contemplate  some  well-marked 
special  modifications.  The  cuticle,  or  skin,  shews  nume- 
rous small  openings,  (the  stomata  of  botanists  ;)  these, 
like  the  holes  in  a  barn,  keep  up  the  communication 
between  the  air  and  the  interior.  In  the  leaves  of  aerial 
plants,  which  have  the  usual  horizontal  position,  these 
pores  are  commonly  abundant  upon  the  lower  surface, 
and  upon  that  under  surface  the  skin  is  also  of  a  more 
delicate  nature  ;  on  the  upper  surface  the  stomata  are 
usually  less  numerous,  or  even,  in  some  cases,  wanting, 
while  the  skin  is  tougher  and  denser.  In  leaves,  again, 
which  float  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  the  openings  are 
confined  to  the  upper  surface,  and  in  submerged  leaves 
they  are  wanting  altogether.  The  intervening  portion  of 
the  leaf,  already  described,  called  parenchyma,  presents 
some  remarkable  peculiarities  in  relation  to  the  pores 
we  have  been  describing.  Next  the  upper  surface  of 
the  leaf,  it  consists  of  compact  oblong  cells,  placed  per- 
pendicularly and  in  close  contact  with  each  other,  the 


132 


TKACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 


layer  nearest  the  lower  surface  is  less  dense,  and  nume- 
rous vacant  spaces  occur  between  the  cells,  permitting  free 
communication,  through  the  stomata  or  pores,  between 

the  atmosphere  and 
the  interior  of  the 
leaf.  We  have  here, 
therefore,  a  striking 
example  of  harmony 
between  the  struc- 
ture of  this  part  of 
the  plant  and  its 
function  and  po- 
sition. The  pores 
are  exhaling  and 
absorbing  organs  ; 
where  they  are  most 
abundant,  there  we  iind  loose  texture  of  the  parenchyma, 
permitting  free  communication  ;  where  stomata  are  not 
needed,  they  are  wanting  ;  when  they  are  required  on 
a  particular  part  of  the  leaf,  there  we  find  them.  Many 
species  of  Utricularise — delicate  water-plants — have  nu- 
merous small  sacs  connected  with  the  leaves,  which  are 
stated,  about  the  flowering  period,  to  become  filled  with 
air,  and  to  buoy  the  plant  near  the  surface  of  the  water. 
In  Pontederia  crassipes  and  Trapa  natans,  some  of  the 
leaves  have  the  stalk  dilated  into  an  air  cavity,  which 
acts  as  a  float.  The  magnificent  Victoria  Kegia  presents 
several  interesting  features.  It  is  an  aquatic  belonging  to 
the  water-lily  family,  and  the  fully  developed  leaf  reaches 
a  diameter  of  five  feet  or  more.  In  order  to  give 
strength  to  such  a  large  surface,  the  veins  on  the  lower 
aspect  of  the  leaf  are  of  great  depth,  acting  as  so  many 


*  Fig.  31.  Perpendicular  section  of  leaf,  to  shew  different  structures  of  upper  and 
lower  portions. 


IN  THE  OKGANS  OF  THE  PLANT.         133 

supporting  girders.  Between  them  are  formed  spaces  in 
which  air  might  accumulate  and  lead  to  a  rupture  of  the 
parts  ;  such  an  occurrence,  however,  is  obviated  by  the 
perforations  which  constitute  one  of  the  peculiarities  of 
this  remarkable  plant.  By  transmitted  light  the  leaf 
resembles  a  sieve,  with  numerous  minute  openings. 

Stipules. — These  appendages  assume  different  forms, 
and  vary  in  size  and  texture,  according  to  the  plant  in 
which  we  examine  them.  They  are,  as  already  stated, 
formed  after  the  leaf  type,  and  although  we  cannot,  in 
every  case,  point  out  the  purposes  served  by  their  modi- 
fied form,  there  are,  nevertheless,  instances  in  which  we 
cannot  doubt  that  they  are  present  for  a  useful  object. 
In  Lathyrus  aphaca  they  are  of  large  size,  and  supply 
the  place  of  the  leaves,  which  are  absent  in  the  mature 
plant.  In  not  a  few  plants  they  perform  important 
functions  as  protecting  organs,  forming  a  covering  to 
the  young  leaves  ;  this  is  obvious  enough  in  Magnolia, 
in  the  Indian-rubber  fig,  and  in  the  submerged  Pota- 
mogetons.  When  the  leaves  expand,  these  protective 
stipules  fall  off  ;  their  function  being  performed  they  are 
no  longer  needed,  and  so  they  disappear. 

Covering  of  plants. — The  varied  aspect  of  the  external 
surface  of  the  different  organs  of  plants,  so  important  to 
the  botanist  in  the  distinction  of  species,  and  designated 
by  the  terms  downy,  silky,  scaly,  &c.,  is  owing  to  the 
presence  of  certain  minute  appendages,  the  nature  of 
which  has  been  already  described.  (See  p.  86.)  In  cer- 
tain cases  their  presence  has  some  relation  to  the  habitat 
or  dwelling-place  of  the  plant.  Those  on  the  upper  part 
of  the  pistil  of  hare-bell  are  well-known  to  act  in  col- 
lecting and  retaining  the  pollen  grains  as  they  drop 
from  the  anther.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  many 
cases  the  very  minute  fibrils  on  the  underground  parts 


134  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

of  plants,  which  assist  in  the  process  of  absorption,  are 
really  hairs,  and  of  the  same  nature  of  those  which  cover 
aerial  organs. 

Armature. — Plants,  like  animals,  have  been  provided 
with  organs  of  defence,  varying  in  strength  and  in  the 
effects  left  by  them  from  the  simple  and  almost  innocu- 
ous prickle  of  the  rose  to  the  formidable  sting  of  Urtica 
urentissima,  the  wounds  inflicted  by  which  often  lead  to 
dangerous  or  even  fatal  results.  We  have  shewn  in  last 
section  that  under  the  term  Armature  are  comprehended 
modifications  of  several  parts.  The  spines  of  the  white 
Thorn  and  the  black  Thorn,  of  which  every  one  has  had 
experience,  are  branches  turned  into  spear  points,  to 
repel  all  sensitive  assailants.  In  Barberry  certain  leaves 
have  been  sharpened  into  prickles  ;  in  Holly  the  leaves 
have  had  their  secondary  veins  hardened  and  pointed 
effectually — as  the  mouth  of  any  animal  which  may  at- 
tempt to  eat  them  will  testify.  In  Kobinia  the  stipules 
have  undergone  a  change  of  condition,  to  fit  them  for 
a  similar  defensive  function.  The  armature  of  Nettle 
and  Loasa  are  modified  hairs,  as  are  also  the  prickles  of 
the  rose,  and  many  other  plants. 

Supports. — This  term  comprises  various  modified 
organs,  supplying  instances  of  design  as  palpable  as  any 
furnished  by  the  pillars  and  buttresses  of  human  archi- 
tecture. The  native  tendency  of  the  stem  is  upwards, 
but  there  are  multitudes  of  plants  too  weak  to  retain 
their  vertical  position  ;  and  to  aid  them  in  their  heaven- 
ward inclination  various  provisions  have  been  made.  At 
times  the  stem  itself  becomes  twined  round  other  plants  ; 
this  spiral  twining  may  either  be  from  right  to  left,  as 
in  the  French  bean,  Dodder,  Convolvulus,  &c.  ;  or  from 
left  to  right,  as  in  the  Honeysuckle  and  Hop.  At  other 
times  the  same  end  is  accomplished  by  the  superficial 


IN    THE   OKGANS   OF   THE   PLANT.  13D 

appendages  of  the  stem,  as,  for  instance,  by  the  minute 
hooks  on  some  species  of  Galium. 

Tendrils,  varying,  as  we  have  seen,  in  their  nature  in 
different  plants,  but  all  really  referrible  to  a  common  type, 
possess  the  same  properties  as  twining  stems  ;  they  twist 
themselves  round  other  plants,  and  thus  support  species 
too  weak  to  stand  in  their  own  strength. 

In  Dischidia  Rafflesiana  the  pitcher -shaded  organs  are 
leaves  whose  margins  have  become  adherent.  This  plant 
is  a  climber,  sometimes  reaching  the  top  of  the  loftiest 
trees,  and  generally  the  pitchers  are  confined  to  its  upper 
part.  It  is  stated  that  there,  small  roots  are  developed, 
and  these,  entering  the  pitchers,  absorb  the  fluid  which  is 
accumulated  from  the  fall  of  rain  or  dew ;  the  long  strag- 
gling stems  are  thus  provided  with  a  means  of  receiving 
nourishment  at  both  extremities. 

In  human  architecture  we  may  discover  contrivance 
in  the  means  taken  to  retain  the  general  symmetry  of 
the  entire  edifice,  while  at  the  same  time  every  part  of 
it  is  devoted  to  a  useful  purpose ;  and  surely  the  ex- 
amples we  have  given  indicate  the  same  kind  of  lofty 
design,  contriving  to  make  organs  conform  themselves 
to  a  general  type  while  they  accomplish  particular  ends 
essential  to  the  wellbeing  of  the  plant.  The  cases 
brought  forward  belong  to  the  nutritive  system  of 
plants  ;  similar  examples  are  furnished  by  the  reproduc- 
tive economy.     But  before  proceeding  to  examine  these, 

Bracts  may  be  alluded  to,  as  forming  an  evident  tran- 
sition, as  we  have  already  shewn,  from  leaf  to  sepals,  or 
divisions  of  the  calyx.  They  are  leaves  specially  modified, 
and  may  help  the  parts  of  the  flower  in  the  performance 
of  their  office.  This  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
rule,  though  we  may  not  be  able  in  every  case  to  specify 
with  precision  their  peculiar  function.     There  are  very 


136  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

numerous  cases  in  which  they  serve  as  protecting  organs. 
In  Palms,  and  other  plants,  the  large  sheath  which  they 
form,  called  technically  a  sjmthe,  encloses  numerous 
flowers  as  yet  in  au  early  stage  of  development.  In 
some  Palms  it  is  calculated  that  there  may  he  thus 
protected  no  fewer  than  200,000  flowers.  In  Narcissus, 
Allium,  &c,  the  bract  forms  a  protecting  sheath  to  the 
flowers  while  in  a  young  and  tender  state,  and  when 
these  expand  it  shrivels  and  decays.  In  the  daisy,  and 
others  of  the  family  Composite,  the  numerous  florets 
are  protected  by  one  or  more  series  of  overlapping 
bracts.  The  cup  of  the  acorn  is  a  protecting  organ, 
formed  also  of  numerous  overlapping  organs  of  the  same 
nature.  Where  these  parts  present  much  resemblance 
to  leaves,  they  often,  as  in  Anemone  and  other  plants, 
serve  at  first  as  protecting  appendages,  and  subsequently 
they  aid  the  leaves  in  their  all-important  functions. 

II.  REPRODUCTIVE  SYSTEM. 

Calyx. — It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  sepals,  or 
pieces  of  the  calyx,  though  not  present  in  every  instance, 
and  therefore  not  absolutely  essential  in  the  economy 
of  the  flower,  do,  when  present,  perform  some  good 
offices.  This  is  true,  whether  the  pieces,  in  consequence 
of  lateral  adhesion,  are  made  to  take  a  tubular  shape,  or 
whether  they  have  some  other  form.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that,  in  numerous  instances,  this  part  not  only  pro- 
tects the  more  internal  organs,  but  likewise  assists  the 
leaves  in  their  function.  The  remarkable,  and  often  very 
beautiful,  hair-like  appendages  of  the  fruit  (part  of  the 
calyx  modified),  in  Composite  plants,  as  the  dandelion 
and  others,  assist  in  the  dissemination  of  the  fruit  and 
seed  :  acted  on  by  the  wind,  these  pappose  fruits  are 
wafted  to  a  distance  from  the  parent  plant,  and,  when 


IN    THE    ORGANS    OF    THE    PLANT.  137 

they  fall  into  a  suitable  soil,  become  the  parents  of  fresh 
colonies. 

Corolla. — The  general  office  of  this  organ  is  very 
obvious.  This  whorl  of  petals  serves,  in  most  cases,  to 
support  and  protect  the  more  vital  organs  within  ;  such, 
at  least,  is  one  function  which  it  evidently  performs.  It 
is  all  true,  that  we  cannot  in  every  instance  state,  with  a 
well-founded  confidence,  what  connexion  there  is  between 
the  form  and  colour  of  the  individual  piece  or  of  the 
entire  corolla,  and  its  use  in  the  economy  of  the  plant. 
In  not  a  few  vegetable  organisms,  both  calyx  and  corolla 
are  wanting,  and  in  such  cases,  at  least,  they  cannot  be 
essential  organs  ;  but  when  present,  we  may  believe  that 
they  serve  a  purpose.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  there 
is  a  relation  between  the  colour  of  the  petal  and  the 
measure  of  heat  which  it  absorbs,  and  which  the  flower 
requires.  Possibly  there  may  also  be  a  relation  between 
the  form  of  the  corolla  and  the  process  of  seed  or  fruit 
production  in  the  species ;  but  science  is  not  yet  prepared 
to  point  it  out.  The  brilliant  apparatus  of  the  flower 
acts,  we  are  convinced,  as  an  attraction  to  various  kinds 
of  insects,  which,  in  the  act  of  procuring  food  for  them- 
selves, assist  also  in  scattering  the  fertilizing  pollen,  and 
bringing  it  into  contact  with  the  upper  part  of  the  seed- 
vessel.  If  we  need  to  seek  for  any  other  final  cause,  we 
shall  find  it  in  the  shapes  and  colours  of  flowers,  as  ad- 
dressed to  that  love  of  the  beautiful  which  is  one  of  the 
most  bountiful  parts  of  the  wonderful  constitution  of  our 
nature. 

Stamens. — These,  with  the  pistil  in  the  centre  of  the 
flower,  are  the  most  essential  organs  of  all.  Their  all- 
important  office  is  to  produce  the  pollen  or  fecundating 
powder  necessary  to  the  formation  of  the  seed. 

We  have  pointed  out,  in  last  section,  the  homology  of 


138  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

the  stamen  and  its  parts.  Its  departure  from  the  gene- 
ral type  is  not  so  great  as  might  at  first  appear,  still  it 
does  deviate  widely  from  the  leaf,  and  all  to  accomplish 
the  very  special  end  allotted  to  it.  The  filament  which 
supports  the  anther  is  (we  have  seen)  no  more  essential 
to  that  anther  than  the  stalk  is  to  the  leaf.  This  fila- 
ment, however,  does  at  times  assume  forms  which  act  an 
important  part  in  relation  to  other  organs  and  the  gene- 
ral mechanism  of  the  plant.  Thus  in  Kalmia,  each 
anther  is  kept  back  by  a  little  hood  or  hollow  in  the  part 
of  the  corolla  opposite  to  it.  A  slight  force — the  touch 
of  an  insect,  for  example — suffices  to  release  the  anther, 
when  the  elastic  filament,  acting  as  a  spring,  brings  it 
forcibly  in  contact  with  the  upper  part  of  the  pistil,  the 
pollen  meanwhile  being  freely  emitted.  The  same  object 
is  secured  by  the  elastic  filaments  of  the  common  nettle, 
and  the  irritable  filaments  of  the  barberry.  Without 
entering  more  minutely  into  the  subject,  it  may  be  ob- 
served generally,  that  the  application  of  a  fertilizing 
matter  being  absolutely  necessary  to  the  propagation  of 
the  plant,  it  appears  precisely  where  it  is  wanted  ;  the 
parts  which  produce  it  protect  it  in  the  first  place,  and 
aid  in  the  final  application  of  it  ;  while  the  whole  appa- 
ratus is  a  special  modification  of  the  typical  member. 

Pistil. — The  leaf  type  is  here  modified  to  form  an  all 
essential  organ.  Its  functions  are  to  receive  and  retain 
the  pollen,  and  the  top  of  the  stigma  is  admirably  fitted 
for  such  purposes.  Another  part  of  the  same  organ  con- 
ducts the  fecundating  matter  to  the  seed-buds  or  ovules, 
and  affords  also  to  these  vital  members  protection — of  a 
more  temporary  or  permanent  kind — till  such  time  as 
they  attain  maturity,  and  reach  a  locality  in  which  they 
may  germinate  into  new  life.  In  not  a  few  cases  the 
seed-vessels  have  appendages  which  act  as  wings,  and 


IN    THE    ORGANS    OF    THE    PLANT.  139 

waft  them  by  the  aid  of  the  wind  to  distant  localities. 
In  other  cases  the  appendages  become  floats  or  protec- 
tors, and  give  us  nuts  and  capsules,  which  are  conveyed 
by  rivers  and  ocean  currents  to  establish  new  colonies  far 
from  the  parent  stock.  The  hooks  and  other  appendages 
of  some  fruits  make  them  adhere  to  the  coats  of  animals, 
and  thus  the  plant,  stationary  itself,  has  its  seed  disse- 
minated wide  as  the  range  of  the  animal,  with  its  feet 
and  wings.  Other  instances  are  not  wanting  of  evident 
adaptations  in  the  general  structure  of  fruits,  and  in  the 
properties  of  their  elementary  tissues.  Thus  the  ripe 
fruits  of  some  species  of  balsam,  when  touched,  suddenly 
burst  and  scatter  the  seeds  with  considerable  force  ;  the 
squirting  cucumber  is  a  still  more  remarkable  case  of 
the  same  description. 

Another  final  cause,  different  in  kind,  comes  into  view 
very  prominently  at  this  place.  He  who  makes  every 
organ  subserve  the  welfare  of  the  plant,  has  also  made 
the  plant,  as  a  whole,  and  its  individual  parts,  to  pro- 
mote an  ulterior  end.  It  seems  very  evident  to  us  that 
certain  modifications  of  the  organ  under  consideration, 
and  others  contiguous,  have  a  direct  reference  to  the 
wants  of  man  and  the  lower  animals.  We  never  can 
believe  that  the  sugar,  acids,  oils,  starch,  and  other  pro- 
ducts formed  so  abundantly  in  the  fruits  of  different 
plants,  were  not  meant  to  serve  as  food,  and  afford  sen- 
tient gratification  to  the  animal  creation.  The  fruit,  in 
its  earlier  stages,  performs  a  necessary  part  in  fertiliza- 
tion, at  every  period  it  yields  support  and  protection  to 
the  young  as  well  as  the  mature  seeds,  and  when,  in  ad- 
dition to  these,  it  presents  its  beautiful  forms  and  colours 
to  the  eye  of  man,  and  pleases  all  sentient  creation  with 
its  perfumes,  and  gives  satisfaction  to  the  palate,  and 
nourishment  to  the  frame,  we  are  sure  that  we  have  be- 


140  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

fore  us  the  modification  of  an  organ  for  a  twofold  pur- 
pose, the  one  bearing  directly  on  the  economy  of  the 
plant  itself,  and  another,  and  a  further,  having  a  respect 
to  the  wellbeing  of  the  animal  world. 

And  these  ends,  be  it  observed,  are  accomplished  in 
conformity  with  the  grand  regulating  principle  of  type  or 
pattern.  In  a  ripe  cherry  the  kernel  is  the  seed  ;  the  hard 
stone,  so  admirably  fitted  for  protection,  corresponds  to 
the  upper  cuticle  of  the  leaf— thus  singularly  transformed 
for  a  useful  end  ;  the  skin  of  the  fruit  represents  the 
cuticle  of  the  lower  surface  of  the  leaf ;  the  intervening 
delicious  pulp  is  just  an  expansion  of  the  cellular  sub- 
stance previously  described  as  lying  between  the  two 
cuticles  ;  nay,  the  observant  eye  will  discover  that  in  the 
line  on  one  side  of  the  cherry,  we  have  the  united  edges 
of  the  typical  leaf. 

Finally,  in  the  Seed. itself,  that  portable  epitome  of 
the  entire  vegetable  organism,  we  find  differences  in  the 
relative  development  of  different  parts,  all  in  decided  re- 
lation to  some  special  function  which  has  a  respect  to  the 
continuance  of  the  species,  or  the  necessities  of  the  ani- 
mal creation.  We  have  alluded  to  the  adaptation  of 
certain  parts  of  fruits  to  the  purpose  of  protecting  the 
seed  ;  but  the  seed  itself  has  often  an  independent  means 
of  resisting  injury  in  its  hard  integument  or  skin,  modi- 
fied for  that  purpose.  The  wing-like  appendages  of  pine 
seeds,  and  the  abundant  hairy  covering  of  those  of  wil- 
lows, doubtless  aid  in  their  dissemination  when  they  are 
committed  to  aerial  currents.  It  may  be  added,  that  man 
finds  in  the  covering  of  the  seeds  of  the  cotton  plant  an 
economic  product  of  immense  value  for  his  clothing  and 
comfort. 

For  the  better  comprehension  of  special  modifications 
in  the  seed  itself,  we  would  refer  to  previous  remarks, 


IN  THE  ORGANS  OF  THE  PLANT.         141 

(p.  82.)  Generally  speaking,  we  find  two  obvious  con- 
trasts in  the  relative  development  of  the  internal  parts, 
viz.,  large  cotyledons,  and  the  albumen  small  or  absent, 
{Fig.  S,)  and  small  embryo  with  copious  albumen.  In 
the  economy  of  each  individual  seed  these  differences  are 
of  vital  importance.  In  germination  the  cotyledons  in 
some  cases  (as  Lupine)  rise  above  ground,  assume  a  green 
colour,  and,  for  a  time,  perform  the  functions  of  leaves, 
finally  giving  place  to  the  true  leaves  of  the  new  plant, 
when  these  have  attained  sufficient  size  ;  or  the  cotyle- 
dons may  remain  under  ground  during  the  process  of 
germination,  as  in  the  pea  and  bean,  yielding  up  to  the 
young  plant  the  store  of  nourishment  which  they  contain. 
Seeds  with  copious  albumen  and  small  embiyo  have,  in 
like  manner,  in  the  former  a  temporary  store  of  food  for 
the  latter. 

But  further,  those  parts  of  the  seed  which  are  of  such 
importance  in  the  early  economy  of  the  young  plant,  pre- 
sent also  a  new  relation,  viz.,  to  the  existence  and  well- 
being  of  man  and  numerous  lower  animals.  Starch,  oil, 
&c,  are  products  yielded  in  abundance  by  seeds  ;  and 
the  hard  albumen  of  some,  as  the  ivory-nut,  is  turned  to 
a  useful  purpose  in  the  arts. 

To  sum  up  what  we  have  said  : — The  stem  bears  up  the 
whole  plant,  so  that  the  influence  of  the  sun  and  atmos- 
phere may  act  through  the  leaves  upon  the  fluids  absorbed 
by  the  roots  ;  which  roots  perform  the  functions  of  stays, 
enabling  the  whole  vegetable  organism  to  resist  the  action 
of  such  physical  agents  as  wind.  The  law  of  the  spiral, 
which  regulates  the  arrangement  of  the  appendages,  seems 
to  be  admirably  calculated  to  expose  them  to  the  influences 
needful  in  order  to  the  growth  of  the  whole  plant.  Cer- 
tain of  the  special  modifications  are  either  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  plant,  or  tend  to  its 


142  TRACES   OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

wellbeing,  such  as  tendrils  for  support,  scales  and  hairs 
for  protection,  spines  and  prickles  as  armature  for  de- 
fence. We  also  know  that  some  of  the  varied  modifica- 
tions of  the  floral  organs,  namely,  the  stamens  and  pistils, 
are  essential  to  the  continuance  of  the  race.  It  is  very- 
evident,  too,  that  regularity  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
flowers  and  of  their  parts  will  promote  the  function  of 
fecundation,  and  tend  to  lessen  risk  of  failure  in  this 
important  end.  Even  the  more  common  arrangements 
seem  as  if  they  were  intended  to  promote  the  fertilization 
of  the  seed.  Thus  the  stamens  of  the  upper  flowers  of  a 
spike,  (wheat,  for  instance,)  or  of  a  raceme,  (as  common 
currant,)  may  not  only  fecundate  the  ovules  in  the  flower 
to  which  they  belong,  hut  are  also  well  placed  to  insure 
the  fall  of  the  pollen  on  those  which  stand  below  them. 
In  the  spikes  of  some  species  of  carex  or  sedge,  where 
the  stamens  and  pistils  are  often  in  separate  flowers, 
those  at  the  apex  of  the  spike  have  stamens  only,  and 
those  further  down  pistils  only.  Again,  when  species  of 
carex  have  some  spikes  with  stamens  only,  and  others 
with  pistils  only,  the  former  often  stand  highest.  These 
cases  are  so  uniform  and  so  numerous  that  we  cannot 
regard  them  as  mere  accidental  coincidences.  There 
are,  no  doubt,  exceptions,  but  in  all  such  cases  the  same 
end  is  accomplished  by  the  insects  which  frequent  flowers 
in  search  of  food,  scattering  and  conveying  from  one 
flower  to  another  the  fecundating  pollen.  Again,  the 
regular  arrangement  of  the  ovules  in  the  interior  of  the 
seed-vessel,  will  be  more  likely  to  give  each  a  better 
chance  of  receiving  the  influence  of  the  matter  conveyed 
by  the  minute  tubes  which  pass  down  from  the  pollen, 
than  indiscriminate  jumbling  of  the  whole. 

Thus   we    observe   in    the    vegetable    kingdom    that 
special  ends  are  served  both  by  the  typical  organs  and 


IN"   THE    OBGANS    OF    THE    PLANT.  143 

their  distribution,  and  also  by  the  numerous  deviations 
from  the  type,  whatever  be  the  nature  and  extent  of 
these.  It  must,  however,  be  frankly  acknowledged  that 
we  cannot  in  every  instance  discover  a  final  cause  for 
every  particular 'part  of  every  plant,  or,  at  all  events, 
that  our  present  knowledge  does  not  entitle  us  to  speak 
confidently  on  the  subject.  But  this  is  not  necessary  in 
order  to  the  validity  of  our  argument.  In  a  building 
we  may  be  able  to  recognise  design  in  its  general  style, 
although  not  in  circumstances  to  point  out  the  special 
purpose  which  every  part  of  it  was  intended  to  serve. 
On  the  same  principle  we  believe  that  we  are  entitled  to 
say  that  we  have  discovered  marks  of  design  in  the 
plant  as  a  whole,  and  in  its  various  modifications,  even 
when  we  may  not  have  arrived  at  a  stage  of  knowledge 
which  enables  us  to  understand  why  an  organ  has 
assumed  one  particular  form  rather  than  another.  It 
would  be  a  very  limited  range  of  contemplation  if  our 
attention  were  confined  to  the  function  which  individual 
parts  are  intended  to  perform  in  the  vegetable  economy. 
We  cannot  doubt  that  there  is  a  relation  between  the 
existence  of  plants  and  the  support  of  the  animal  world. 
In  the  grass  of  the  field,  and  the  valuable  products 
yielded  by  fruits  and  seeds,  we  can  see  a  provision  made 
by  the  Creator  for  supplying  the  necessities  of  His 
creatures. 

We  go  a  step  further,  and  affirm  that  plants  were 
meant  not  only  to  furnish  food  to  the  animal  creation, 
but  were  intended  to  afford  them  pleasure  by  their  tastes 
and  by  their  perfumes.  It  will  surely  not  be  affirmed  that 
the  organs  of  taste  and  of  smell  were  given  us  merely  as 
means  of  procuring  food,  or  as  sentinels,  on  guard  at  the 
outposts,  to  warn  us  of  danger.  Plants  might  have  been 
less  sapid  or  less  odoriferous  without  any  derangement  of 


144  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

the  functions  wliicli  each  part  fulfils  ;  and  there  is  surely 
some  ground,  for  concluding  that  He  who  planned,  and 
made  them  all  superadded  those  qualities,  and  instituted 
a  harmony  between  the  sensate  and  the  insensate,  for 
the  gratification  of  animal  tastes.  Not  only  so,  we  think 
there  is  good  ground  for  affirming  that  not  a  few  vege- 
table forms  were  meant  to  gratify  the  aesthetic  feelings  of 
man.  We  cannot  jdeclare  with  certainty  that  the  forms 
assumed  by  the  flower,  by  its  calyx  and  corolla,  are  in 
every  case  necessary  to  the  functions  of  the  plant.  We 
will  not  affirm  that  the  beautifully  rounded  form  of  the 
peach,  the  delicacy  of  bloom  on  the  surface,  and  the 
deliciousness  of  its  flavour,  are  required  in  order  to  the 
production  of  the  kernel  and  its  hard  protecting  shell. 
We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  the  brilliant  scales  on 
the  wings  of  the  butterfly  are  necessary  to  its  flight,  for 
the  insect,  (as  any  one  may  observe)  can  fly  after  they 
are  mostly  all  rubbed  off,  and  some  Lepidoptera  have 
few  or  no  scales  at  all  ;  and  just  as  little  ground  have 
we  for  affirming  that  the  plant  could  not  fulfil  its 
functions  even  though  the  flower  had  not  been  so  orna- 
mented. 

Man  has  aesthetic  tastes  implanted  in  his  nature  ; 
these  are  gratified  to  the  full  by  the  lovely  forms  pre- 
sented in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  we  are  convinced 
that  all  this  was  arranged  by  Him  who  conferred  on 
man  his  love  of  the  beautiful,  and  supplied  the  objects 
by  which  that  love  is  gratified."  And  here  we  have 
to  express  our  regret  that  philosophers  have  not  been 
able  to  agree  upon  a  theory  of  the  beautiful.  If  there 
had   been   any  acknowledged    doctrine  on  this   subject, 

*  Some  insist  tbat  there  is  not  only  the  beautiful  in  plants,  (and  in  animals  as  well,) 
but  also  the  grotesque.  Granted,  but  surely  we  have  here  a  further  example  of  final 
cause  in  the  relation  between  the  grotesque  in  the  plant  and  the  sense  gf  the  ludicrous 
in  man. 


IN    THE    ORGANS    OF    THE    PLANT.  145 

there  would  have  been  little  difficulty  in  shewing  that 
plants  are  fashioned  in  accordance  with  a  very  high 
style  of  beauty.  In  particular,  we  are  as  yet  without 
any  generally  received  principles  in  regard  to  what  con- 
stitutes beauty  of  form.  In  such  circumstances  we  can 
appeal  to  no  admitted  rules,  but  we  can  appeal  to  our 
own  feelings,  which  declare  that  the  plant,  in  its  general 
form,  and  in  its  corolla,  exhibits  perfect  models  of 
beauty.  Here  we  have  an  all-sufficient  final  cause  super- 
added to  all  the  other  final  causes,  bearing  more  directly 
upon  the  economy  of  the  plant,  and  coming  in  at  the 
parts,  such  as  the  flower  and  fruit,  where  these  others,  to 
our  eyes,  might  seem  to  fail. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    COLOURS    OF    PLANTS. 
SECT.  I. THE  RELATIONS  OF  FORM  AND  COLOUR  IN  THE  FLOWER. 

It  is  a  very  common  impression  that  there  is  no  rule, 
no  law,  for  the  distribution  of  colours  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom.*  We  are  convinced  that  this  is  a  fundamental 
mistake.  Little,  it  is  true,  has  been  done  to  establish 
scientific  principles  as  to  the  colours  of  plants.  Still, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  system  prevails  here  as  in 
every  other  department  of  nature.  Laws  in  regard  to 
the  form,  structure,  number,  and  position  of  organs,  are 
familiar  to  every  botanist  ;  and  it  is  surely  not  unreason- 
able to  expect  that  order  may  also  be  found  in  the  placing 
of  colours.  One  of  us  has  been  able  to  furnish  a  con- 
tribution to  this  branch  of  inquiry,  by  discovering  evi- 
dence of  a  very  curious  relation  between  the  form  and 
colour  in  the  corolla  in  plants.f 

In  order  that  this  may  be  understood,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary at  this  place  to  explain  certain  technical  terms  used 

*  We  are  great  admirers  of  Mr.  Buskin's  intuitional  power,  but  the  following  state- 
ments in  his  Lamps  of  Architecture  are  too  unguarded: — "The  natural  colour  of  objects 
never  follows  form,  but  is  arranged  on  a  different  principle ;"  and  again,  "  Colour  is  sim- 
plified where  form  is  rich,  and  rice  versa;"  "  In  nature,"  he  further  says,  the  "boun- 
daries of  forms  are  elegant  and  precise ;  those  of  colours,  though  subject  to  symmetry  of 
a  rude  kind,  are  yet  irregular — in  blotches." 

t  See  Br.  Dickie's  Papers  in  Sectional  Reports  of  Proceedings  of  British  Association, 
1854;  and  Annals  of  Natural  History,  Dec.  1854. 


COLOUR    IN    THE    FLOWER.  147 

by  botanists.  The  terra  regular  is  applied  to  every  calyx 
or  corolla  in  which  each  sepal  or  petal  is  of  equal  size 
and  of  similar  form  ;  in  other  words,  in  which  all  the 
divisions  (whether  they  are  free  or  adhere  to  each  other 
by  their  edges*)  are  equally  and  uniformly  developed. 
Every  flower  in  which  there  is  unequal  or  irregular  de- 
velopment of  sepals  and  of  petals,  is  called  irregular. 
It  is  to  the  very  great  difference  in  these  respects  that 
we  owe  the  variety  of  aspect  in  the  flowers  of  different 
species.  As  examples,  the  following  familiar  plants 
may  be  adduced  ; — the  pansy  has  an  irregular  flower, 
that  of  wall-flower  is  regular ;  a  primrose  has  a  regular 
flower ;  a  snapdragon  presents  an  example  of  irregu- 
larity. 

The  following  conclusions  appear  generally  to  hold 
good  as  to  the  relation  of  form  and  of  colour  in  the 
flower. 

1.  In  regular  corollas  the  colour  is  uniformly  distri- 
buted whatever  be  the  number  of  colours  present. — That 
is  to  say,  the  pieces  of  the  corolla  being  all  alike  in  size 
and  form,  have  each  an  equal  proportion  of  colour.  The 
common  primrose  is  an  example  where  there  is  only  one 
colour.  In  the  Chinese  primrose  the  same  holds  where 
two  colours  (the  one  the  complement  of  the  other)  are 
present,  the  eye  or  centre  being  yellow,  and  the  margin 
purple  ;  these  two  colours  in  this  regular  flower  are  uni- 
formly diffused,  that  is,  each  piece  has  an  equal  proportion 
of  yellow  and  of  purple  respectively.  In  Myosotis,  Anagal- 
iis,  Erica,  Gentiana,  Pyrola,  &c,  we  have  uniform  corolla 
with  uniform  distinction  of  colour.  All  Corolliflorae 
Exogens  with  regular  flowers  arc  examples  ;  the  same  is 
true  of  certain  Thalamiflora^,  as  Papaveraceae,  Cruciferas, 

*  It  may  be  necessary  to  explain  that  the  terms  free  or  adherent,  refer  to  the  condi- 
tion oftbo  mature  flower,  and  not  to  the  mode  of  development. 


148         THE  RELATIONS  OF  FORM  AND 

&c.  ;  Calycifloral*  Exogens  with  regular  flowers,  as  Ro- 
saceae,  Cactaceaa,  &c,  illustrate  the  same  principle. 

2.  Irregularity  of  corolla  is  associated  with  irregular 
distribution  of  colour,  whether  one  or  more  colours  are 
present. — In  irregular  flowers  where  the  number  five  pre- 
vails, the  odd  piece  is  most  varied  in  form,  size,  and  colour. 
When  only  one  colour  is  present,  it  is  usually  more  in- 
tense in  the  odd  lobe  of  the  corolla.  When  there  are 
two  colours,  one  of  them  is  generally  confined  to  the  odd 
piece.  Sometimes  when  only  one  colour  is  present,  and 
of  uniform  intensity  in  all  the  pieces,  the  odd  segment 
has  spots  or  streaks  of  white.  A  few  familiar  instances 
may  suffice. 

_.  T  ,  (  Four    petals   yellow ;     fifth,    yellow,    with 

Conmion  Laburnum, i  '  J  '    J 

(      purple  veins. 

Trifolium     pratense,     (com-  )  Odd   piece   distinguished  from  the    others 

mon  red-clover,) )      by  its  darker  purple  veins. 

^r         ,.  .n  (  Four  petals  yellow;  fifth,  yellow  eye  and 

Kennedia  monophylla, <  l  J  '  J  J 

'      purple  margin. 

c  (  Four  petals  yellow;    fifth,   white   eye    on 

Swamsonia  purpurea <  l  J  '  '  J 

(      purple  ground. 
Ajuga      reptans,     (common  )  Four  divisions   purple ;    fifth,    has    yellow 

bugle,) )      spot  on  inner  surface. 

Thymus    Serpyllum,     (wild  )  Corolla    generally    red    purple ;    two    pale 

thyme,) )      spots  on  the  odd  piece, 

Galeopsis  Tetrahit, \Fon?    divisions    generally    -yeUow'      ^h 

(      piece  has  purple  spots  on  yellow  ground. 

Euphrasia   officinalis,    (com- )  Corolla   purple   generally;      odd   piece   has 

mon  eyebright,) )      yellow  spot. 


In  those  well-known  annuals,  Collinsia  and  Schizan- 
thus,  the  prevailing  colour  is  purple ;  the  primary,  yel- 
low, appears  in  the  odd  lobe. 

*  ThalamifloruB  comprehends  plants  In  which  there  is  no  adhesion  between  the  whorls 
of  the  flower.  Calyciflora;  comprehends  those  in  which  there  is  such  adhesion.  In 
Corolliflone  the  petals  are  united  hy  their  edges  forming  a  tubular  flower,  to  the  inside 
of  which  the  stamens  partially  adhere. 


COLOUR    IN    THE    FLOWER.  149 

In  some  genera  with  irregularity  of  flower  often  less 
marked  than  in  previous  examples,  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  the  two  divisions  on  each  side  of  the  odd  lohe  fre- 
quently partake  of  its  characters  as  regards  colour,  half 
of  each  resembling  the  odd  piece,  as  may  be  seen  in 
Viola,  Gloxinia,  Achimenes,  Rhododendron,  and  other 
plants. 

3.  In  certain  Tlialamiflorous  Exogcns  ivith  unequal 
corolla,  arising  chiefly  from  difference  in  size  of  the 
petals,  the  largest  are  most  highly  coloured. — Common 
horse-chestnut  may  be  mentioned  as  an  example  ;  on 
each  petal  there  is  usually  a  crimson  spot  at  the  lower 
part ;  the  size  of  this  spot  and  its  intensity  are  in  direct 
relation  to  the  size  of  each  petal,  the  two  upper  being 
largest,  and  the  two  lateral  smaller,  and  the  odd  piece 
least  of  all. 

4.  Different  forms  of  corolla  in  the  same  inflorescence 
often  present  differences  of  colour,  but  all  of  the  same 
form  agree  also  in  colour. — The  family  of  plants  called 
Composite,  comprehending  Aster,  Cineraria,  Daisy,  &c., 
&c.,  presents  illustrations  of  this.  When  there  are  two 
colours,  the  flowers  of  the  centre,  usually  of  tubular  form, 
have  generally  one  colour  of  uniform  intensity  ;  those  of 
the  circumference,  having  a  different  form,  agree  toge- 
ther in  colour  also.  Thus  the  common  daisy  has  all  the 
tubular  flowers  of  the  centre  yellow,  and  all  the  ligulate 
(strap-like)  flowers  of  the  ray  or  circumference  are  white, 
variegated  with  purple.  A  yellow  centre  with  a  purple 
ray  is  a  common  association  in  Compositse  ;  for  instance, 
in  species  of  Aster,  Rudbcckia,  &c.  These  principles 
or  laws  prevail  as  well  in  monocotyledons  as  in  dicoty- 
ledons. In  the  former,  the  calyx  and  corolla  generally 
resemble  each  other  in  structure  and  shape,  and  in  colour 
also.      This   very   close   resemblance    between   the   two 


150  THE    RELATIONS    OF    FORM    AND 

whorls  has  given  rise  to  the  idea  that  there  is  only  one 
series  of  external  parts  in  monocotyledons.  Kelative  po- 
sition must,  however,  not  be  overlooked,  and  hence  it  is 
concluded  that  both  calyx  and  corolla  are  present.  In 
dicotyledons  we  generally  find  a  greater  contrast  between 
calyx  and  corolla  as  regards  colour.  We  may  say  there- 
fore,— 

5.  The  law  of  the  contrasts  in  the  colour  of  the  flower 
is  simpler  in  monocotyledons  than  in  dicotyledons. — 
The  flowers  of  dicotyledons  may  be  symbolized  by  the 
square  or  pentagon,  four  and  eight,  five  and  ten  being 
the  prevalent  numbers  in  the  different  whorls  ;  whereas 
since  three  and  six  are  generally  found  in  the  flowers  of 
monocotyledons,  the  triangle  may  serve  to  symbolize  such 
arrangement.  Such  comparison  is  not  fanciful  on  our 
part,  but  an  actual  statement  of  the  mode  of  illustration 
adopted  by  botanists.  Thus,  in  a  work  by  one  of  the 
highest  authorities  of  the  day,*  a  series  of  triangles  is 
used  for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating,  more  clearly  than 
could  be  done  by  any  other  means,  the  true  relations  of 
the  flower  in  the  families  of  the  grasses,  j>alms,  and  or- 
chids. 

We  may  state  in  conclusion,  therefore,  that  simplicity 
of  figure  corresponds  ivith  simpler  contrast  of  colour  in 
the  monocotyledons,  tvhile  greater  complexity  of  colour 
and  greater  complexity  of  structure  are  in  direct  relation 
in  dicotyledons. — In  all  these  remarkable  co-existences 
there  is  surely  something  more  than  mere  casual  coinci- 
dences. As  the  laws  of  the  beautiful  have  not  been 
detected  and  unfolded,  it  is  not  possible  to  demonstrate 
scientifically  that  the  relations  we  have  been  treating  of 
are  in  accordance  with  aesthetic  principles.  But  the  eye 
at  once  perceives  in  regard  to  some  of  these  arrange- 

*  Lindley's  Vegetable  Kingdom,  pp.  109,  169, 178. 


COLOUR    IN    THE    FLOWER.  151 

merits,  that  they  tend  to  enhance  the  beauty  of  the  planl; 
Would  not  reason  he  offended  if  uniform  flowers  had  not 
uniform  colouring  ?  Is  there  not  a  propriety,  when  in 
an  irregular  flower  there  is  one  petal  standing  by  itself, 
that  that  petal  should  have  more  brilliant  colours,  that 
thus  the  flower  may  be  tempered  together,  having  more 
abundant  honour  in  the  parts  which  lacked,  that  there  be 
no  schism  in  the  plant  ?  We  are  persuaded  that  were  we 
to  put  a  flower  without  any  colour  into  the  hands  of  a 
skilful  colourist,  and  ask  him  to  put  on  the  colours,  he 
would  do  so  on  the  very  principles  according  to  which 
plants  are  coloured  in  nature. 

Proceeding  on  the  principle  that  since  plants  of  all 
epochs  of  the  earth's  history  have  been  constructed  on  the 
same  general  plan,  so  the  same  associations  of  colour, 
and  of  colour  and  form,  must  have  prevailed  also,  we  may 
finally  glance  at  a  few  conclusions  to  be  derived  from  this 
source. 

During  the  earlier  geological  periods,  when  Acrogenous 
Cryptogamia  (Ferns,  &c.)  were  abundant,  the  secondary 
and  tertiary  colours,  as  green,  purple,  russet,  and  citrine, 
probably  prevailed. 

During  the  reign  of  Gymnosperms,  when  Cycadece  and 
Conifers  were  numerous,  the  secondary  and  tertiary  colours 
must  still  have  given  a  sombre  aspect  to  the  vegetable 
world. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  chalk  formation  there 
appears  to  have  been  a  very  marked  and  progressive  in- 
crease of  Angiospermous  dicotyledons,  which  form  the 
largest  proportion  of  existing  vegetation.  Among  them 
we  find  the  floral  organs  with  greater  prominence  in  size, 
form,  and  colour ;  and  such  prominence  of  the  "  nuptial 
dress"  of  the  plant  is  peculiarly  a  feature  of  species  be- 
longing: to   natural   families  which  have  attained  their 


152  ADAPTATION   OF    THE   COLOURS   OF 

maximum  in  man's  epoch,  and  are  characteristic  of  it. 
Brougniart,*  one  of  our  highest  authorities  in  this  de- 
partment, states  that  a  remarkable  character  of  the  floras 
of  the  eocene,  miocene,  and  pliocene  epochs — which  im- 
mediately preceded  man's  epoch — is  the  absence  of  the 
most  numerous  and  most  characteristic  families  of  the 
Gamopetake.f  Nothing  announces  the  existence  of  Com- 
positce,  Personatfe,  Labiatae,  Solanaceae,  Boraginaceae,  &c. 

Doubtless  there  were  lovely  flowers  in  former  periods, 
"  born  to  blush  unseen,"  at  least  by  human  beings,  but 
we  miss  those  which  are  our  special  favourites,  and  whose 
cultivation  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  civilized  man. 

We  cannot  avoid  thinking  that  there  was  design  in  al] 
this,  that  the  succession  of  created  forms  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  had  a  reference  to  the  epoch  of  man  ;  and  that 
just  about  the  time  when  there  appeared  an  eye  to  re- 
ceive and  convey  the  impressions  of  beauty,  and  an  intel- 
lect to  derive  satisfaction  from  the  contemplation  of  such, 
then  it  was  that  the  most  highly  adorned  productions  of 
Flora's  kingdom  were  called  into  existence. 

SECT.  II. ADAPTATION  OF  THE  COLOURS  OF  PLANTS  TO  THE 

NATURAL  TASTES  OF  MAN. 

Artists  lay  it  down  as  a  maxim  that  a  large  portion  of 
a  painting  should  be  of  a  neutral  colour.  Our  natural 
tastes  would  not  tolerate  a  scarlet  or  purple  ground  to  a 
historical  painting.  In  a  skilful  piece  of  art  the  more 
prominent  figures  are  made  to  rise  out  of  colours  which 
attract  no  notice.  It  is  the  same  in  the  beautiful  canvas 
which  is  spread  out  before  us  in  earth  and  sky.  The 
ground  colours  of  nature,  if  not  all  neutral,  are  at  least 

*  Annates  des  Sciences  Naturelles,  1S49. 

t  In  Game-petal*  there  ia  adhesion  of  petals  ;  the  flowers  are  tubular. 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         153 

all  soft  and  retiring.  How  grateful  should  we  be  that 
the  sky  is  not  usually  dressed  in  red— that  the  clouds 
are  not  painted  crimson — that  the  carpet  of  grass  on 
which  we  tread  is  not  yellow,  and  that  the  trees  are  not 
decked  with  orange  leaves  !  The  soil,  in  most  places, 
is  a  sort  of  brown — the  mature  trunks  of  trees  commonly 
take  some  kind  of  neutral  hue — the  true  colour  of  the 
sky  is  a  soft  blue,  except  when  coloured  with  gray  clouds, 
and  the  foliage  of  vegetation  is  a  refreshing  green.  It 
is  out  from  the  midst  of  these  that  the  more  regular  and 
elegant  forms,  and  the  gayer  colours  of  nature  come 
forth  to  arrest  the  attention,  to  excite  and  dazzle  us,  not 
only  by  their  own  splendour,  but  by  comparison  and  con- 
trast. 

All  the  gayer  colours  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  seem 
to  be  beautiful  in  themselves.  The  eye  needs  no  asso- 
ciated object  to  lead  it  to  detect  a  loveliness  in  the  red 
rose,  and  the  blue  harebell,  and  the  yellow  primrose. 
But  there  are  associations  of  colour  in  art  which  have  a 
pleasing  effect  upon  the  mind.  In  our  Schools  of  Design 
pains  are  taken  to  shew  what  colours  may  be  placed  in 
juxtaposition,  and  what  colours  may  be  kept  at  a  dis- 
tance from  each  other.  In  the  construction  of  tapestry, 
and  other  kinds  of  higher  needlework,  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  our  finer  texture  of  fabrics,  and  in  the  staining 
of  glass  for  windows,  strict  attention  is  now  paid  to  rules 
on  this  subject,  prescribed  by  science  and  sanctioned  by 
experience.  We  proceed  to  shew  that  in  nature  colours 
have  been  associated  from  the  beginning,  according  to 
principles  which  have  become  known  to  man  only  at  a 
comparatively  late  date  in  the  history  of  human  civili- 
zation and  science.  In  order  to  explain  this,  it  will  be 
needful  to  begin  with  a  few  elementary  statements  in  re- 
gard to  light  and  colour. 


154  ADAPTATION   OF    THE   COLOURS   OF 

According  to  the  commonly  adopted  doctrine,  there  are 
three  Primary  Colours,  Eed,  Yellow,  and  Blue.  The 
combination  of  these,  in  certain  proportions,  yields  White. 
The  absence  of  them  all  is  Black.  These  primaries,  mixed 
together,  two  and  two,  produce  what  are  called  Secondary 
Colours,  viz.,  Orange  from  the  mixture  of  red  and  yellow, 
Green  from  the  mixture  of  yellow  and  blue,  and  Purple 
from  the  mixture  of  red  and  blue.  From  the  combination 
of  the  secondaries  arise  three  Tertiary  Colours  : — Citrine 
from  the  mixture  of  orange  and  green,  Olive  from  the 
mixture  of  green  and  purple,  and  Russet  from  the  mix- 
ture of  orange  and  purple. 

There  are  certain  other  phrases  which  it  maybe  needful 
to  explain  in  their  technical  sense,  as  used  by  colourists. 
Tint  is  employed  to  denote  the  gradations  of  colour  in 
lightness  and  shade  ;  Shade  to  express  the  gradations  in 
depth  from  white  down  to  black  ;  Hue  is  applied  to  the 
mixtures  in  compound  colours.  Thus  we  talk  of  a  light 
tint  of  red  where  the  red  approaches  to  white,  of  a  dark 
shade  of  purple  where  the  purple  inclines  to  black,  and 
of  hues  of  orange  from  the  yellowest  to  the  reddest,  of 
hues  of  green  from  the  yellowest  to  the  bluest,  and  of 
hues  of  purple  from  the  bluest  to  the  reddest.  When 
the  orange  has  more  than  its  proper  proportion  of  red, 
we  call  it  a  red  orange  hue  ;  when  in  green  the  yellow 
prevails,  we  call  it  a  yellow  green  ;  and  when  in  purple 
the  blue  predominates,  we  call  it  a  blue  purple.  This  is 
the  common  doctrine  taught  in  schools  of  art ;  it  is  correct 
enough  for  the  purpose  which  we  have  at  present  in  view, 
and  the  nomenclature  enables  us  to  express,  in  a  rough 
way,  the  infinitely  varied  colours  in  nature.* 

*  Newton  thought  that  there  were  seven  simple  primitive  colours,  red,  orange,  yellow 
green,  blue,  indigo,  violet.  Sir  David  Brewster  has  shewn  that  these  can  be  reduced  to 
three.    Some  scientific  men  seem  to  reckon  all  such  classifications  as  in  some  respects 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL   TASTES    OF    MAN.        155 

The  language  of  music  has  been  applied  to  colours  ; 
and  colourists  talk  of  the  Melody  of  colours  and  the 
Harmony  of  colours.  Colours  are  said  to  be  in  Melody 
when  two  contiguous  tints,  or  shades,  or  hues,  run  insen- 
sibly into  each  other,  as  when  red  slides  into  pink  and 
white,  and  purple  deepens  into  dark  purple  or  merges 
into  red  purple  and  red.  Two  different  colours  are  said 
to  be  in  Harmony  when  their  association  is  felt  to  be 
pleasant  to  the  eye. 

Two  colours  are  said  to  be  Complementary  when  they 
together  make  up  the  white  beam.  Thus  green  and  red 
are  complementary,  as  also  purple  and  yellow,  orange 
and  blue.  The  eye  feels  a  pleasure  in  seeing  colours 
in  melody,  or  melting  into  each  other.  It  also  feels  a 
pleasure  in  contemplating  certain  associations  of  different 
colours.  In  particular,  the  eye  is  pleased  when  comple- 
mentary colours  are  beside  each  other,  or  under  the  view 
at  the  same  time.*  Complementary  colours  contrast  the 
one  with  the  other,  but  are  always  in  harmony.  It  is 
necessary  to  add  that  white  associates  pleasantly  with 
every  other  colour,  as  does  also  black. 

The  accompanying  diagram  {Fig.  32)  is  constructed 
with  the  view  of  shewing  what  colours  are  complementary 
to  each  other.  In  this  figure  we  have  the  three  primary 
colours,  red,  yellow,  and  blue,  and  the  three  secondaries, 
orange,  green,  and  purple,  with  the  hues  of  the  seconda- 
ries on  either  side.     We  have  also  the  tertiaries,  citrine, 


arbitrary,  and  speak  of  the  solar  light  as  composed  of  indeterminate  numbers  of  differently 
colored  rays.  We  have  no  opinion  to  offer  on  these  points,  or  any  other  disputed  point, 
in  regard  to  the  nature  of  colour.  But  as  it  is  needful  to  use  nomenclature  of  some 
description,  we  adopt  the  commonly  received  doctrine  as  expressing  the  actual  facts 
very  clearly,  and  with  sufficient  correctness  for  the  purpose  which  we  have  in  view. 

*  Divers  explanations,  physical  and  physiological,  have  been  given  of  this.  None  of 
these  seems  to  us  to  be  altogether  satisfactory,  and  it  would  be  beyond  our  province  to 
discuss  them  in  such  a  treatise  as  this.  It  is  enough  for  us  that  the  fact  be  admitted,  that 
the  eye  is  gratified  when  it  can  simultaneously  unite  two  complementary  colours. 


156 


ADAPTATION    OF    THE    COLOURS    OF 


olive,  and  russet.  The  diagram  is  so  constructed  that 
the  colours  in  corresponding  segments  of  opposite  circles 
are  complementary,  and  so  in  harmony.     Thus,  red  and 


Fig.  32. 


green,  blue  and  orange,  yellow  and  purple,  are  com- 
plementary. According  to  the  hue  of  any  particular 
secondary,  so  is  also  the  hue  of  its  complement.  Thus  a 
pure  purple  requires  a  yellow,  but  a  red  purple  requires 
a  yellow  green,  and  a  blue  purple  a  yellow  orange,  as 
the  complementary  colour ;  and  so  of  all  the  other 
secondaries.  The  tertiary  citrine  is  in  harmony  with  a 
dark  purple,  olive  with  a  dark  orange,  and  russet  with  a 
dark  green. 

These  principles  are  taught  now  in  every  school  of  art, 
and  are  attended  to  in  the  manufacture  of  all  our  finer 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         157 

fabrics  in  which  colour  is  an  element  of  beauty,  as  in 
dresses,  carpets,  hangings,  and  furnishings  of  various 
descriptions.  When  two  colours  not  in  harmony  might 
come  in  contact,  the  discord  is  avoided  by  placing  a  line 
of  white  or  black  between  them.  We  are  now  to  shew 
that  these  principles  are  also  attended  to  in  the  colouring 
of  certain  departments  of  nature.  Thus,  to  take  up  the 
three  secondaries,  green,  purple,  and  orange. 

1.  Green  harmonizing  ivith  red  and  russet. — The  soft 
hue  which  the  Author  of  nature  has  been  pleased  to 
give  to  the  leaf  of  tree  and  herbage,  is  by  far  the  most 
abundant  colour  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Now,  where- 
ever  the  flower  of  a  plant  is  red,  it  associates  agreeably 
with  the  leaf.  The  flowers  of  the  rose,  and  of  many 
pinks,  geraniums,  pelargoniums,  mallows,  lychnises,  and 
dozens  of  others,  contrast  strikingly  with  the  foliage  of 
the  plants  on  which  they  grow.  The  eye  delights  to  see 
the  fruit  of  the  cherry,  the  rose,  and  the  thorn,  and  the 
berry  of  the  holly,  the  yew,  the  common  barberry,  the 
mountain  ash,  and  unnumbered  other  plants,  peeping 
forth  from  the  green  leaves.  It  often  happens  that  ac- 
cording to  the  hue  of  the  green  so  is  the  hue  of  the  asso- 
ciated red.  In  a  vast  number  of  plants,  the  young  stems 
and  the  petioles  of  the  leaves,  and  in  not  a  few  cases  the 
veins  of  the  leaves,  are  red  purple,  contrasting  with  the 
leaves  which  are  yellow  green.  The  young  cones  of  the 
larch,  in  spring,  are  of  a  reddish  purple,  harmonizing 
with  the  yellow  green  foliage.  In  other  cases  we  find  that 
it  is  a  russet,  that  is,  in  harmony  with  a  dark  green.  In 
the  fir  tribe  and  its  allies,  the  leaves  are  dark  green,  and 
steins  are  russet.  The  same  colours  are  the  prevalent 
ones  among  rushes,  and,  indeed,  in  most  of  the  juncous 
family  of  plants. 

2.  Purple  harmonizing  icith  yellow  and  citron. — This 


158  ADAPTATION    OF    THE    COLOUKS    OF 

is  the  second  most  prevalent  harmony  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  observe, 
purple  of  various  tints,  shades,  and  hues,  such  as  red 
purple  where  there  is  a  preponderance  of  red,  and  blue 
purple  where  there  is  a  preponderance  of  blue,  is  the 
most  frequent  colour  of  the  petals  of  plants.  In  beau- 
tiful contrast  we  often  find  yellow  in  the  centre  of  the 
flower.  Thus,  in  the  garden  polyanthus,  and  in  many 
varieties  of  auricula,  the  outer  rim  of  the  corolla  is 
purple,  and  an  inner  circle  is  yellow.  More  frequently 
the  complement  is  found  in  the  yellow  anthers  or  yellow 
pollen.  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  as  the 
most  frequent  colour  of  petals  is  purple,  so  the  most 
common  colour  of  the  pollen  of  plants  is  yellow.  It  is 
curious  to  notice,  that  according  to  the  hue  of  the  purple 
so  is  the  hue  of  the  associated  yellow.  Thus,  in  potato 
and  bittersweet  (Solanum  dulcamara),  the  corolla  is  blue 
purple,  and  the  anthers  are  red  yellow,  whereas  in  poly- 
anthus the  outer  edge  of  the  flower-cup  is  red  purple, 
and  the  heart  greenish  yellow.  In  other  plants  the 
complementary  is.  not  yellow  but  citrine,  a  colour  not 
uncommon  in  matured  and  decaying  vegetation,  where 
it  contrasts  with  a  dark  purple.  Purple  and  citrine  are 
also  commonly  associated  in  the  flowers  of  grasses.  The 
newly-ripened  cone  of  the  cluster-pine  is  citrine  ;  when 
the  scales  open,  the  complementary  purple  is  revealed  on 
the  base  of  each. 

3.  Orange  harmonizing  with  bhie  and  olive. — This 
harmony  is  less  frequently  met  with  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  (it  is  very  common  in  the  sky.)  Still,  there 
are  examples  to  be  found.  Thus  in  several  species  of 
Strelitzia,  (as  S.  Regina?,  S.  juncea,  &c.,)  the  sepals 
are  orange  and  the  petals  blue.  A  pure  blue,  however, 
is  rarely  to  be  met  with   in   the  flower  of  any  of  the 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         159 

organs  of  plants.  Most  of  the  flowers  called  blue  have 
more  or  less  of  a  tinge  of  red.  In  such  flowers  the  har- 
mony is  often  very  evident.  Thus,  the  reddish-blue 
petals  of  blue  lupines  and  Jacob's-ladders  are  associated 
with  reddish-yellow  anthers.  In  not  a  few  composite 
plants,  in  some  Hieraciums,  for  example,  (such  as  Hiera- 
cium  aurantiacum,)  we  may  observe  an  orange  disc  sur- 
rounded by  an  olive  involucre.  The  olive  in  some  of  these 
plants  seems  to  be  produced  by  purple  spots  on  a  green 
ground. 

Not  unfrequently  the  complementary  colours  may  be 
found  on  the  same  organ.  Thus,  the  side  of  a  young 
branch  exposed  to  the  sun  is  often  reddish  purple,  and 
the  other  side  yellow  green.  But  it  is  in  the  flower  that 
we  most  frequently  meet  with  the  sister  colours.  They 
may  be  seen  in  many  of  the  popular  favourites,  both 
among  wild  and  garden  plants.  In  the  flower  of  the 
11  forget-me-not,"  which  ever  greets  the  eye  so  cheerfully, 
there  is  a  border  of  blue  purple,  and  a  centre  or  throat 
of  orange  yellow.  In  the  pansy,  so  rich  and  soft  that  it 
has  got  the  name  of  "  heart\s-ease,"  we  have  yellow  and 
purple  of  various  hues  and  degrees  of  intensity,  bright- 
ened by  a  mixture  of  white.  Eyebright  has  a  purple  and 
white  corolla,  with  a  sprinkling  of  yellow  on  its  odd  lobe 
In  many  of  the  universal  favourites,  harmony  of  colours 
adds  at  least  to  the  effect  produced  by  beauty  of  form. 
It  is  probably  the  elegant  shape  and  the  hanging  posture 
of  the  flowers  of  foxglove  which  allure  children  to  it,  but 
the  interest  which  they  feel  in  it  may  be  unconsciously 
increased  by  its  purple  and  white  petals,  and  its  yellow 
anthers  adorned  with  purple  spots.  The  yellow  Iris 
(I.  pseudacorus)  has  a  yellow  flower  lined  with  purple, 
and  it  has  purple  dots  on  the  yellow  anthers.  In  the 
daisy,  described  as  "  crimson-tipped"  by  Burns,  there  is, 


160        ADAPTATION  OF  THE  COLOURS  OF 

ft 

the  yellow  disc  harmonizing  both  with  the  white  ray  and 
the  purple  on  its  tips.  These  flowers  are  favourites  with 
all  classes — peer  and  peasant,  old  man  and  young  maiden, 
countryman  and  townsman.  They  pleased  us  in  our 
childhood,  when  we  seized  them  and  sought  possession 
of  them  so  eagerly,  but  found  them  fading  like  all  earthly 
enjoyments,  and  they  please  us  still  in  our  advancing 
years,  as  we  prefer  lazily  looking  at  them,  and  allowing 
them  to  grow  where  God  has  planted  them,  that  they 
may  gratify  us  and  others  as  we  pass  on  in  the  journey 
of  life.  That  which  has  thus  endeared  them  to  multi- 
tudes is,  we  believe,  to  some  extent  at  least,  this  very 
harmony  of  colours,  which  all  feel,  because  it  is  intended 
— it  is  natural,  that  we  should  feel  it,  but  which  could 
not,  till  within  these  few  years,  have  been  scientifically 
expressed.  We  may  also  notice  that  yellow  and  purple 
are  found  in  close  contiguity  on  the  flowers  of  many  of 
the  plants  which  man  has  domesticated,  and  which  find 
a  place  in  every  garden,  such  as  Chinese  primrose,  auri- 
cula, polyanthus,  mimulus,  calceolaria,  Indian  cress,  snap- 
dragon, and  marigolds. 

But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  two  colours  are 
always  to  be  found  on  the  same  organ,  or  that  this  har- 
mony is  confined  to  the  inflorescence.  On  the  contrary, 
it  appears  in  a  vast  number  of  situations,  and  we  have 
often  found  pleasure  in  detecting  it  under  its  various 
modifications.  Frequently  one  of  these  colours  is  on 
one  organ,  and  its  complement  on  another  organ.  Very 
commonly  (as  we  have  seen)  we  have  purple  petals  with 
yellow  anthers  or  pollen,  but  at  times  there  is  a  different 
order  and  relation  of  colours  between  these  two  organs. 
Thus,  in  several  species  of  poppies  (e.  g.  Papaver  orien- 
tale)  the  petals  are  red  orange,  and  the  anthers  olive. 
Usually  the  anthers,  or  at  least  the  pollen,  of  plants  is 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATUKAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         161 

yellow  ;  but  in  the  turn-cap  lily,  the  decidedly  red  pollen 
is  associated  with  the  green  filaments  of  the  anthers,  and 
in  Hypericum  Androsaemum,  we  meet  with  purple  an- 
thers, contrasting  with  the  yellow  filaments  and  yellow 
petals.  In  Amygdalis  communis,  the  yellow  anthers 
have  their  complements  in  the  purple  filaments.  In 
wood-sage,  the  purple  filaments  contrast  with  the  yellow 
petals.*  In  some  syngenesius  plants,  there  is  one  colour 
in  the  ray,  and  its  complement  in  the  disc  ;  thus,  in 
Guillardia  pinnatifida  and  Coreopsis  Drummondii,  the 
ray  is  yellow  and  the  disc  purple.  Sometimes  the  one 
colour  is  in  the  calyx  and  its  sister  colour  in  the  corolla. 
Thus,  in  evening  primrose,  (Oenothera  macrocarpa,  and 
also  in  0.  tenuifolia,)  the  petals  are  yellow  and  the  sepals 
purple.  In  some  species  of  Kanunculus,  (R.  repens, 
E.  bulbosa,  R.  Flammula,)  the  yellow  flowers  have  their 
complement  in  purple  on  calyx,  leaf-stalks,  or  leaf-sheaths 
on  one  or  other,  at  times  on  all.  In  certain  species  of 
rushes,  (e.  g.,  Juncus  cornpressus,)  the  anthers  and  pollen 
are  yellow,  the  ovary  and  stigma  are  purple,  and  the  edge- 
of  the  perianth  is  russet,  and  the  centre  dark  green. 
In  the  paper  reed  of  Egypt,  we  may  observe  that  the 
sheaths  at  the  base  of  the  stalks  are  red  purple,  while  the 
stalks  themselves  are  yellow  green.  In  some  plants  the 
stems  and  leaves  have  one  of  the  hues  of  green,  and  the 
spines  and  prickles  the  corresponding  hue  of  rod.  At 
times  the  leaf  or  stalk  is  one  colour,  and  upon  it  there 
are  spots  of  the  complementary  colour  ;  thus,  on  hemlock 
we  may  notice   red  purple  spots   on   the   yellow  green 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  allude  here  to  Count  Euniford's  principle,  that  two  colours,  to 
be  in  harmony,  must  both  present  the  respective  proportions  of  the  coloured  light  ne- 
cessary to  form  white.  In  most  of  the  instances  we  have  adduced,  it  would  not  be  easy 
to  prove  a  conformity  to  this  principle.  But  Chevreul,  one  of  the  highest  authorities  on 
this  subject,  considers  Rumford's  statement  "as  nothing  more  than  an  ingenious  inven- 
tion of  fancy."     (See  Taper  in  Chern.  Rep.  of  Cavendish  Society,  p.  1S9:) 


162  ADAPTATION   OF   THE   COLOURS   OF 

stalks.  Nay,  we  have  observed  that,  if  there  be  but  a 
diseased  spot  or  wart  on  a  leaf  produced  by  an  insect,  the 
colour  of  the  spot  will  at  times  be  complementary  to  that 
of  the  leaf,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  little  galls  on  the  leaves 
of  willows  and  roses.  The  scales  of  young  cones  are  often 
purple,  whereas  the  scales  of  the  old  cones,  hanging  on 
the  same  tree,  are  citrine.  In  Victoria  regia,  we  may 
notice  on  the  leaf  (besides  the  beautiful  mechanism  by 
which  it  is  supported)  red  jjurple  ribs  harmonizing  with 
the  prevailing  yellow  green,  and  in  the  expanding  flower 
the  red  purple  calyx  harmonizing  with  the  yellow  green 
at  the  edge  of  the  sepals.* 

*  This  frequent  juxtaposition  of  complementary  colours  must  have  a  physical  as  well 
as  a  final  cause.  If  it  be  asked  what  this  is,  we  are  inclined  to  answer  this  question  by 
asking  another,  the  answer  to  which  may  p^sibly  open  up  the  way  to  an  answer  to  the 
first  question.  When  a  beam  of  light  falls  on  a  green  leaf,  the  green  is  said  to  be  reflected 
and  the  red  absorbed;  but  what,  we  ask,  becomes  of  the  red?  When  the  beam  falls  on 
a  purple  petal,  the  purple  is  said  to  be  reflected  and  the  yellow  absorbed  ;  but  what  be- 
comes of  the  yellow?  Are  the  red  and  the  yellow  in  these  cases  absolutely  lost?  If  these 
constituents  of  the  beam  be  lost,  they  are  the  only  powers'  in  nature  which  are  so.  In 
this  world  of  ours  nothing  which  has  existed  at  any  time  is  lost,  even  as  nothing  abso- 
lutely new  comes  into  being.  It  is  now  a  received  doctrine,  that  the  heat  absorbed  by 
plants  in  the  geological  era  of  the  coal  measures  is  laid  up  in  fossil  deposits,  and  may 
come  forth  in  our  epoch  when  the  coal  is  ignited.  May  we  not  suppoes,  in  like  manner, 
that  the  red  absorbed  by  the  plant  when  the  green  is  reflected  by  its  leaves,  will  come 
forth  sooner  or  later,  in  some  form,  in  young  stem,  flower,  or  fruit;  and  that  the  yellow 
absorbed  by  the  flower  when  the  purple  is  reflected,  will  come  out  in  the  yellow  pollen, 
or  in  some  other  form?  AVe  have  thought  at  times  that  as  the  pure  white  beam,  when 
it  reaches  the  earth  with  its  atmosphere,  is  divided  into  several  rays,  and  that  no  one  of 
these  is  lost,  and  as  they  all  come  forth  sooner  or  later,  we  have  thus  a  harmony  of  colours 
In  nature.  We  h"ve  thus  the  brown  earth,  the  ultimate  recipient  of  the  ra\  s  which  have 
passed  through  the  atmosphere,  harmonizing  with  the  blue  sky,  and  ligneous  substances 
become  orange  when  ignited.  But  we  throw  out  this  view  as  a  mere  hypothesis  in  the 
absence  of  a  better,  and  in  order,  if  not  to  guide,  at  least  to  stir  up  inquiry;  and  we  beg 
that  it  may  be  carefully  separated  from  the  co-ordinated  facts  presented  in  the  text.  In 
whatever  way  we  may  account  for  it,  there  is  a  most  singular  succession  as  well  as  co- 
existence of  colours  in  the  vegeiable  kingdom.  Harmonious  colours  come  out  not  only 
contemporaneously,  but  consecutively.  In  several  species  of  Geum,  (as  G.  urbanum  and 
G.  intermedium,)  the  petals  are  yellow  and  the  pistils  purple,  but  it  Is  not  till  the  yellow 
petals  are  falling  off  that  the  purple  pistils  appear.  We  have  the  same  curious  pheno- 
menon in  some  species  of  Fragraria.  In  Cytisus  Canadensis,  the  yellow  corolla  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  purple  pod.  In  some  Cactacea?,  the  yellow  flower  Is  succeeded  by  a  purple 
fruit.  In  Taxodium  sempervirens,  the  young  shoots  are  yellow  green,  those  of  a  year 
old  are  red  purple,  and  those  older  still,  citrine.  Generally  branches,  when  young,  are 
green,  as  they  advance  they  are  purple,  at  a  farther  stage  they  are  citrine,  and  finally 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         163 

These  harmonies  are  found  in  plants  belonging  to  all 
the  principal  divisions  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Thus, 
among  the  family  of  Mosses,  the  red  or  red  purple  teeth 
of  the  peristome  are  associated  with  the  green  or  yellow 
green  capsule  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  different  parts 
of  their  stems  and  leaves.  Among  Fungi,  we  have  Bo- 
letus luridus  and  Boletus  luteus  with  yellow  and  purple 
stems.  In  Lycopodiums,  the  most  common  colours  are 
yellow  and  purple.  Among  Ferns,  we  have  noticed 
Doodia  aspera  with  its  young  fronds  red  purple  and 
yellow  green,  and  Dicksonia  adiantoides  with  yellow 
green  fronds  and  red  purple  stalks.  Most  exotic  Or- 
chidese  have  yellow  with  purple  spots,  or  yellowish  green 
with  red  purple  spots  on  calyx  and  corolla.  In  the  flower 
of  grasses,  the  prevailing  colours  are  purple  and  citrine, 
russet  and  dark  green.  We  have  already  detected  this 
harmony  among  rushes,  among  herbaceous  plants,  among 
the  cone-bearers,  and  trees  generally. 

It  is  a  most  interesting  occupation  to  trace  it  at  every 
season  of  the  revolving  year.  In  spring  it  is  very  obvi- 
ous in  the  contrast  between  the  yellow  green  leaf  and  the 
red  purple  of  the  stalk  on  which  it  grows  ;  thus  the 
young  leaves  of  the  primrose  are  yellow  green,  while  the 
stalks  are  red  purple.  At  the  same  season  we  may  no- 
tice that  the  flower  of  Tussilago  is  yellow,  while  the 
involucre  and  scales  of  the  stalks  are  purple.  In  the 
summer  season  the  powerful  beams  of  the  sun  bring 
forth  this  harmony  in  plants  of  every  description.     In 

russet.  Surely  these  successions  are  instructive.  We  have  felt  a  deep  interest  in  no- 
ticing how,  in  a  vast  number  of  plants,  the  colours  which  make  up  the  full  beam  do 
some  time  or  other,  separately  or  in  combination,  make  their  appearance  during  the 
life  or  at  the  death  of  the  plant.  There  are  also  curious  cases,  in  which  one  colour 
appears  in  the  outside,  and  its  complement  in  the  inside  of  the  fruit.  The  inside  of  a 
nearly  ripe  tig  is  red-purple,  the  outside  yellow-green  :  the  same  is  true  of  the  pericarp 
In  some  species  of  Pseony.  The  skin  of  the  berry  of  Mahonias  is  blue,  whereas  the 
Interior  is  orange. 


164  ADAPTATION    OF    THE    COLOURS    OF 

autumn  it  is  very  strikingly  exhibited  in  the  contrast 
between  the  leafage  and  the  berry,  and  other  fruits.  Nay, 
it  is  often  very  visible  in  the  fruit  itself.  Thus  in  cer- 
tain varieties  of  apple,  hues  of  red  and  purple  are  asso- 
ciated with  hues  of  green  and  yellow  green,  while  in 
some  varieties  of  pear,  yellow  green,  red  purple,  and 
citrine  occur  together.  The  year  dies  (like  the  day)  in 
glory  amidst  a  magnificence  of  colouring  in  its  phase, 
in  which  prevailing  hues  are  greenish  yellow  and  deep 
red  purple,  and  citrine  relieved  by  dark  purple  spots. 
In  winter  itself,  we  may  see  the  harmony  in  those  plants 
which  (like  friends  in  adversity)  choose  that  season  to  shew 
their  beauty  ;  thus  the  greenish  yellow  corolla  of  the  ar- 
butus harmonizes  very  beautifully  with  the  red  purple  of 
the  anthers,  and  also  of  the  flower-stalks.  The  eye  is 
refreshed  in  the  depth  of  winter  by  seeing  the  red  berries 
peeping  forth  from  the  midst  of  the  green  foliage  of  the 
yew  and  holly.  Thus  does  the  harmony  run  on  till  the 
returning  sun  of  spring  calls  forth  a  new  cycle. 

We  may  discover  in  it,  if  we  patiently  seek  for  it,  in 
every  description  of  natural  scene.  In  the  grass  of  the 
fields  we  may  observe  it  in  the  stems,  which  are  often 
red  purple  in  harmony  with  the  yellow  green  leafage,  and 
in  the  purple  and  citrine  of  the  flowers.  Nor  can  any 
one  walk  far  in  the  fields  without  meeting  plants  which 
he  has  only  to  examine  to  discover  that  they  illustrate  this 
conjunction.  If  the  bird's-foot  (Lotus  corniculatus) 
catch  his  eye,  he  may  notice  that  its  lively  yellow  co- 
rolla is  relieved  by  purple  on  the  outside  of  its  large  lobe. 
Or  if  he  pick  up  the  flower  of  purple  clover,  he  will  find 
that  the  anthers  are  yellow.  If  he  carefully  examine  the 
common  buttercups,  he  will  find  that  as  a  set-off  to  the 
yellow  flower  there  is  purple  on  the  calyx  or  some  othei 
organ.     The  yellow  flower  of  silverweed  (Potentilla  anse- 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATUKAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         1Q5 

rina)  has  a  visible  contrast  in  the  purple  stalks  and  run- 
ners. He  may  notice  how  the  yellow  flower  of  common 
hawksLit  (Hieracium  Pilosella)  has  purplish  tips  and 
purple  on  the  outside,  and  how  numberless  yellow  syn- 
genesious  plants,  such  as  dandelion  and  Apargia  autum- 
nalis,  grow  on  purple  stalks,  and  have  purple  spots  on 
the  involucre.  Here  and  there  he  will  discover  Sym- 
phytum tuberosum,  with  dull  yellow  corolla  and  dull 
purple  stem  ;  or  self-heal,  (Prunella  vulgaris,)  presenting 
its  calyx  with  russet  border  and  dark  green  centre,  sur- 
mounted by  blue  purple  corolla  and  whitish  anthers.  Pos- 
sibly he  may  be  so  fortunate  as  to  fall  in  with  a  rock  rose, 
(Heliantliemum  vulgare,)  with  its  yellow  petals  melodiz- 
ing into  crimson,  and  striped  with  purple.  In  our  drier 
meads  he  cannot  but  notice  yellow  rattle,  (Khinanthus 
Crista-galli,)  with  yellow  corolla  tipped  with  purple,  and 
Lathyrus  pratensis,  with  purple  veins  in  the  large  lobe  of 
its  yellow  corolla ;  and  in  our  watery  marshes  the  lousewort, 
(Pedicularis  palustris,)  with  its  purple  petals  and  yellow 
anthers.  In  our  pools  he  may  meet  with  the  Comarum 
palustre,  with  its  dark  red  purple  corolla  and  its  yellow 
green  heart.  If  he  wander  by  our  rivulets  he  may  fall 
in  with  Geum  rivale,  with  its  purple  petals,  and  its  abun- 
dant and  prominent  yellow  anthers,  with  its  russet  calyx, 
harmonizing  with  its  dark  green  leaf.  If  he  go  forth 
into  our  wastes,  he  will  meet  with  our  sedges  and  rushes 
with  their  purple  and  citrine.  In  shady  and  moist 
places  he  may  see  the  common  loose-strife,  (Lysimachia 
nemorum,)  with  yellow  corolla,  and  stems  and  leaves 
tinged  with  purple.  In  our  hedges  he  has  the  yellow 
green  leaf  of  the  thorn  harmonizing  with  its  red  purple 
shoots,  and  growing  up  in  the  midst  of  them  the  purple 
vetch,  (Vicia  sepium,)  with  its  purple  corolla  and  yellow 
anthers  ;  while  in  the  ditch   there   may  be  the   lovely 


166  ADAPTATION  OF  THE  COLOUKS  OF 

"forget-me-not,"  with  its  reddish  blue  and  yellow 
orange.  If  he  enter  the  wood  he  may  see  the  com- 
mon anemone,  with  its  purple  flowers  and  yellow  anthers, 
or  the  leafage  of  the  bush  contrasted  with  its  berries, 
or  the  cones  of  the  fir  and  pine  contrasted  with  one 
another,  or  with  the  foliage.  If  he  betake  himself 
to  the  sea-side,  he  will  fall  in  with  the  sea  sandwort, 
(Arenaria  marina,)  or  the  common  sea-pink,  (Statico 
Armeria,)  both  with  purple  corolla  and  prominent  yellow 
anthers  ;  or  the  common  sea-radish,  (Raphanus  mariti- 
raus,)  whose  open  yellow  corolla  harmonizes  with  the 
unexpanded  flower-buds,  which  are  purple.* 

We  are  inclined  to  think,  farther,  that  there  is  often  a 
beautiful  harmony  in  the  way  in  which  different  plants 
are  associated  in  nature.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance 
that  the  colours  of  some  sea-weeds  are  red  of  various 
hues,  and  of  others  are  green  of  various  hues,  and  as  these 
grow  together  they  help  to  embellish  one  another.  We 
have  heard  skilful  colourists  declare  that  there  is  a  har- 
mony in  the  colours  of  the  plants  growing  together  in  our 
finest  meads,  and  our  own  eye  testifies  to  the  same  effect. 
We  are  quite  aware  that  in  our  cultivated  fields  there  are 
often  plants  growing  together  with  colours  that  are  discor- 
dant. We  could  never  discover  any  beauty  in  the  yellow 
mustard  growing  among  the  green  stalks  of  the  farmer's 
grain.  But  in  nature's  own  meads,  in  all  places  in  which 
she  not  only  grows  but  is  allowed  to  sow  her  own  plants, 
she  commonly  distributes  her  colours  very  gracefully. 
We  are  not  prepared  to  give  the  full  rationale  of  this. 
So  far  as  the  herbage  is  concerned,  it  may  be  partly  ac- 
counted for  by  the  circumstance  that  yellow  and  purple 
are  the  most  common  associations  in  the  flower  of  grasses, 

*  We  would  i-cfer  to  the  Appendix  for  additional  examples  of  harmonious  colours  in 
different  plants. 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         167 

and  red  purpie  and  yellow  green  in  the  stalks  and  leaf- 
age. The  green  foliage,  too,  is  everywhere  relieved  by 
red  fruit  and  red  flowers,  such  as  wild  roses,  ragged 
robins,  red  campions,  and  geraniums.  In  the  summer  and 
early  part  of  autumn,  there  will  be  buttercups  still  lin- 
gering, and  bird's-foot,  and  clivers  syngenesious  plants, 
such  as  ragweed  and  hawksbit,  all  yellow  or  yellow  inclin- 
ing to  orange,  and  in  contrast  there  will  be  purple  clover 
and  scabiouses,  and  self-heal,  and  harebell,  and  common 
bugle,  and  thistle,  and  knapweed,  all  purple  or  purple 
inclining  to  blue.  We  may  notice,  indeed,  that  in  many 
of  our  fields  some  of  these  colours  prevail  to  an  unpleasant 
extent  above  the  others.  Thus  in  some  spots  there  may 
be  a  disagreeable  glare  of  yellow  caused  by  ragwort  and 
buttercup  ;  but  we  have  noticed  that  if  the  progress  of 
agricultural  improvement  does  not  interfere  with  the 
natural  process,  the  thistles  and  knapweeds  will  soon  so 
spread  themselves  as  to  restore  the  proper  balance  of 
colour.  Nor  let  it  be  forgotten  that  nature  lightens  the 
whole  scene,  and  heightens  the  effect  of  every  other 
colour  by  her  white  flowers,  by  her  daisies,  her  stitch- 
worts,  her  chickweeds,  her  great  white  ox-eyes,  her  mil- 
foils, and  her  meadowsweets.  One-reason  why  man  loves 
and  longs  in  these  times  to  retreat  from  our  best  culti- 
vated regions  to  the  wilds  of  nature,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  circumstance  that  nature,  in  her  own  domains,  min- 
gles so  gracefully  her  forms  and  colours. 

We  have  thus  a  frequent  harmony  in  the  colouring  of 
the  individual  plant,  and  a  not  unfrequc-nt.  harmony  in 
the  colouring  of  plants  growing  contiguous  to  each  other. 
When  the  plant  is  near,  the  eye  will  naturally  fix  itself 
on  the  complementary  colours  of  the  individual  plant,  and 
when  we  are  looking  at  a  lawn  at  some  little  distance, 
the  eye  will  rather  select  the  harmony  presented  by  dif- 


168  ADAPTATION    OF    THE    COLOURS    OF 

ferent  plants.  And  here  it  is  worthy  of  being  mentioned, 
that  colourists  acknowledge  that  if  there  be  complemen- 
tary colours  among  objects  bofore  the  eye,  it  will  instinc- 
tively fix  on  them,  to  the  neglect  of  adjacent  colours. 

Chevreul,  who  is  the  highest  authority  on  the  subject 
of  simultaneous  contrast  of  colours,  recommends  that  in 
planting  out  flowers  in  gardens,  attention  be  paid  to  the 
rules  of  complementary  colours.  "  The  principal  rule  to 
be  observed  in  the  arrangement  of  flowers,  is  to  place  the 
blue  next  the  orange,  and  the  violet  next  the  yellow, 
while  red  and  pink  flowers  are  never  seen  to  greater  ad- 
vantage than  when  surrounded  by  verdure  and  by  white 
flowers  ;  the  latter  may  also  be  advantageously  dispersed 
among  groups  formed  of  blue  and  orange,  and  of  violet 
and  yellow  flowers."  *  But  this  eminent  chemist  does  not 
seem  to  have  observed  that  plants  in  nature  are  arranged 
on  these  very  principles.  A  skilful  colourist,  conducted 
into  a  garden,  planted  out  on  the  plan  recommended  by 
Chevreul,  would  at  once  discover  that  there  were  plan 
and  purpose  in  the  distribution  of  the  plants.  But  there 
are  no  less  convincing  proofs  of  design  in  the  way  in 
which  colours  are  arranged  on  individual  plants,  and  in 
which  plants  are  distributed  over  our  meadows  and 
mountains. 

Though  it  does  not  fall  within  our  immediate  subject, 
we  may  here  be  allowed,  as  an  illustration  of  the  general 
subject,  to  remark  that  traces  of  harmony  of  colours 
may  likewise  be  found  in  the  plumage  of  birds.  The 
following  seem  to  be  the  most  common  forms  in  which 
it  presents  itself.  First,  We  often  observe  some  dark 
colour,  at  times  a  black,  but  more  commonly  a  dark  blue, 


*  See  Paper  by  Chevreul,  p.  2fiS,  in  Chemical  Reports  and  Memoirs,  1S4S,  of  Works  of 
Cavendish  Society.  The  same  views  are  more  fully  developed  in  Chevreul's  great  work, 
"De  la  loi  du  Contrasto  SimultauB  des  Couleurs,  (1S39.)'' 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN".  169 

or  very  blue  purple,  in  harmony  with  white.  Sometimes 
the  white  is  on  the  belly  or  breast,  while  the  dark  hue 
is  on  the  back  ;  at  other  times  there  are  white  spots 
relieving  the  dark  shade  all  over  the  body.  This  is  a 
common  association  in  our  birds  of  plainer  plumage.  It 
may  be  seen  in  many  web-footed  fowls,  such  as  geese, 
divers,  and  gulls.  The  second  most  common  harmony — 
if,  indeed,  it  be  the  second  and  not  the  first — is  between 
a  sort  of  tawny  hue,  being  a  yellow,  with  more  or  less  of 
red,  and  a  dark  blue,  or  rather  dark  blue  purple.  This 
collocation  of  colours  is  very  frequent  among  raptorial 
birds,  as,  for  example,  many  falcons  and  owls,  and  is 
found  among  wading  birds  and  many  species  of  thrushes. 
TJiirdly,  in  our  more  ornamented  birds  we  discover  red 
associated  with  green.  This  congruity  appears,  and  at 
once  arrests  the  eye,  in  a  great  many  parrots,  in  a  num- 
ber of  todies,  and  in  the  Curucuis,  a  tribe  of  birds  which 
live  in  low  damp  woods  in  the  tropical  parts  of  America 
and  Asia,  and  feed  on  insects  and  berries. 

These  seem  to  be  the  more  marked  associations,  but 
these  three  forms  run  into  each  other.  Thus,  some  horn- 
bills  are  dark  blue  and  reddish  yellow,  but  others  have 
white  instead  of  yellow.  This  is  also  the  case  with  some 
of  the  raptorial  birds.  In  the  plumage  of  some  fowls 
the  reddish  yellow  seems  to  be  a  pure  orange  ;  this 
seems  to  be  the  case  with  some  toucans — other  toucans 
seem  more  nearly  green  and  red.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  many  solitary  warblers,  fly-catchers,  and  starlings. 
In  some  birds  the  red  yellow  is  brightened  into  a  scarlet, 
harmonizing  with  a  greenish  blue  ;  this  is  a  very  com- 
mon association  among  chatterers  and  finches.  The 
scarlet  ibis  has  the  greater  part  of  its  plumage  of  the 
hue  which  its  name  denotes,  but  has  a  greenish  blue  on 
its  wings.     Among  pheasants  we   often  discover  a  red 

8 


170  ADAPTATION    OF    THE    COLOURS   OF 

orange  and  a  blue  green,  and  the  same  colours,  differently 
distributed,  appear  on  our  more  ornamented  ducks.  In 
reviewing  these  associations  we  may  notice  that  we  have, 
on  the  one  side,  white  rising  into  yellow  orange  and  red, 
and  on  the  other  side  blue  sliding  into  purple  or  green. 

We  have  not  paid  special  attention  to  the  subject,  but 
similar  harmonies  prevail,  we  doubt  not,  in  other  depart- 
ments of  nature,  as,  for  example,  among  insects.  Any 
one  may  notice  the  yellow  and  purple  on  bees  and  wasps. 
The  most  cursory  glance  is  sufficient  to  shew  that  many 
shells  of  mollusca  are  characterized  by  a  yellow  ground 
adorned  with  purple  spots.  In  another  department  of 
nature  it  has  been  remarked  by  Field  that  the  brown 
earth  harmonizes  agreeably  with  the  blue  sky. 

Surrounded  as  we  are  by  such  harmonies,  we  are 
convinced  that  whenever  the  mind  seeks  for  them  it  will 
discover  them  ;  nay,  the  eye  fixes  on  them  when  it  is  not 
designedly  seeking  for  them,  and  rejoices  in  them  when 
it  can  give  no  account  of  the  cause  of  its  joy.  At  the 
same  time,  the  contemplative  intellect  experiences  a  far- 
ther pleasure,  and  a  pleasure  of  its  own,  when  it  can 
scientifically  explain  to  itself  the  source  of  all  this  enjoy- 
ment, and  systematically  look  out  for  the  pleasing  asso- 
ciations of  nature. 

The  heart,  rightly  tuned  to  the  praise  of  its  Maker, 
will  experience  a  farther  pleasure.  Present  to  a  skilful 
colourist  an  article  of  human  workmanship,  constructed 
according  to  the  rules  of  simultaneous  contrast  in  colour- 
ing, and  he  will  at  once  say,  Here  are  art  and  design. 
Place  before  him  a  piece  of  Gobelin  tapestry,  one  of  our 
finer  carpets,  or  the  stained  glass  of  a  window,  and  he 
will  perceive  at  a  glance  that  the  associations  of  colour 
are  not  accidental,  but  that  they  are  purposely  suited  to 
the  physiological  and  psychical  nature  in  man.     We  are 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.         171 

convinced  that  there  are  equally  clear  proofs  of  con- 
trivance in  the  colouring  of  natural  objects,  organic  and 
inorganic.  Indeed,  colourists,  long  ago,  observed  that 
there  was  a  beautiful  harmony  in  the  colours  of  nature  ; 
and  within  the  last  age,  Field  and  Hay,  and  very  pos- 
sibly others,  have  stated  what  is  the  nature  of  this  har- 
mony, though  they  have  not  followed  it  into  the  various 
departments  of  natural  history.  He  who  can  trace  up 
all  these  adaptations  to  Him  who  causes  His  works  to 
make  sweet  music  by  their  harmony,  has  surely  here 
a   source   of  higher — we  should  rather  say,   of  highest 

joy- 
But  the  question  is  here  started,  Are  there  no  colours 

associated  in  nature  except  harmonious  ones  ?     This  is 

a  question  which  we  are  not  prepared  dogmatically  to 

answer,  either  in  the  negative  or  positive.     One  thing, 

however,  seems  to  us  very  certain,  that  complementary 

colours  appear  so  often  in  nature,  and  cast  up,  under 

such  different  modifications,  and  in  such  a  variety  of 

objects  and  situations,  that  their  conjunction  cannot  be 

the  result  of  mere  chance.     Besides  the  generalized  facts 

of  a  positive  character,  we  are  prepared  to  say  negatively 

that  we  have  never  observed  in-  a  corolla,  or  in  any  one 

organ  of  a  plant,  pure  red  and  pure  yellow,  or  blue  and 

red,  in  contact  with  each  other.*     But  in  making  these 

affirmations  we  are,  at  the  same  time,  prepared  to  admit 

that  there  are  colours  in  nature  in  juxtaposition  which 

are  not  complementary.     This,  however,  just  raises  the 

question,  Can  no  colours  be  pleasantly  associated  except 

c<  tmplementary  colours  ?    This  question  must  be  answered 

in  the  negative,  and  being  so  answered,  a  host  of  inquiries 

*  The  same  statement  was  made  to  us  by  Mr.  Wood,  an  experienced  flower  painter 
And  lately  assistant  master  in  the  Belfast  School  of  Design.  He  fartuer  informed  us 
that  he  invariably  found  associations  of  harmonious  colours  in  the  different  parts  of 
plants,  such  as  we  have  been  describing. 


172  ADAPTATION   OF   THE   COLOURS   OF 

come  to  be  made  as  to  what  other  associations  are 
agreeable,  and  these  should  be  followed  by  a  series  of 
investigations,  having  it  for  their  end  to  discover  how  far 
all  the  non-complementary  associations  of  nature  can  be 
described  as  pleasant.  Chevreul  tells  us  that  we  cannot 
prescribe  arrangements  of  non-complementary  colours,  so 
as  to  please  the  eye,  in  as  positive  a  manner  as  may  be 
done  with  reference  to  the  assortment  of  complementary 
colours.  "  This  is  the  reason,"  he  adds,  "  that  in  treat- 
ing of  the  distribution  of  flowers  in  gardens  I  have  only 
recommended  an  assortment  of  flowers  whose  colours  are 
complementary,  at  the  same  time  that  I  admit  the  exist- 
ence of  many  other  assortments  productive  of  a  very 
agreeable  affect."0  This  whole  subject  is  just  opening 
upon  us,  and  we  must  be  satisfied  for  the  present  to  sub- 
stantiate a  certain  amount  of  truth,  to  acknowledge  that 
there  are  unsolved  points  and  difficulties,  and  trust  that 
these  may  be  cleared  up  by  further  investigation. 

AVe  must  here  state,  however,  that  many  of  the  seem- 
ing exceptions  co  these  general  views,  are  exceptions 
merely  in  appearance. 

It  not  unfrequently  happens,  in  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
that  the  discord  between  two  contiguous  colours  is  sub- 
dued by  a  patch  of  white,  which,  like  innocence,  (of 
which  it  has  always  been  reckoned  an  emblem,)  has  never 
occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  itself,  for  it  may  appear  any- 
where, and  is  in  harmony  with  every  object  it  can  meet 
with.  In  Lycopsis  arvensis,  in  harebell,  and  speedwells, 
the  blue  of  the  petals  has  no  complementary  orange,  but 
then  it  is  beautifully  relieved  by  an  adjacent  white. 

It  may  seem  as  if  the  leaves  of  plants  were  liable  to  be 
seen  simultaneously  with  every  other  colour  in  the  vege- 

*  See  in  works  of  Cavendish  Society,  Chemical  Reports  and  Memoir?,  1848. — Paper  by 
Chevreul,  p.  219. 


PLANTS    TO    THE    NATURAL    TASTES    OF    MAN.        173 

table  kingdom,  that  there  must  be  discord  when  the  green 
leaf  is  perceived  at  the  same  time  with  the  yellow  and 
blue  of  the  flower.  Chevreul,  in  speaking  of  the  artifi- 
cial arrangement  of  flowers  in  a  garden,  lays  down  a  rule 
which  enables  us  to  escape  the  difficulty.  "  I  must,  how- 
ever, reply  to  the  objection  that  might  be  made,  that  the 
green  of  the  leaves,  which  serves,  as  it  werer  for  a  ground 
for  the  flowers,  destroys  the  effect  of*  the  contrast  of  the 
latter.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case  ;  and  to  prove 
this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  fix  on  a  screen  of  green  silk 
two  kinds  of  flowers,  (in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the 
paper,)  and  to  look  at  them  at  a  distance  of  ten  paces. 
This  admits  of  a  very  simple  explanation,  for  as  soon  as 
the  eye  distinctly  and  simultaneously  sees  two  colours, 
the  attention  is  so  riveted  that  contiguous  objects,  espe- 
cially when  on  a  receding  plane,  and  where  they  are  of 
a  sombre  colour,  and  present  themselves  in  a  confused 
manner  to  the  sight,  produce  but  a  very  feeble  impres- 
sion."* 

Nor  is  it  to  be  forgotten,  that  the  coloured  flowers  of 
many  plants  are  raised  out  from  the  midst  of  their  leaves, 
and  are  so  far  above  them  that  the  petal  and  leaf  do  not 
come  simultaneously  into  view  in  a  marked  manner, 
This  is  the  case  very  obviously  with  harebell,  dandelion, 
hyacinths,  and  many  other  plants.  In  such  cases,  it 
may  be  found  either  that  the  flower  has  a  beauty  of  its 
own  independent  of  any  adjunct,  or  that  it  has  a  harmo- 
nizing concomitant  in  some  other  plant  usually  growing 
in  the  neighbourhood. 

More  important  than  any  of  these,  we  find  that  there 
is  a  physiological  provision  in  the  eye  itself,  which  helps 
it  to  overcome  any  slight  defects  in  the  balancings  of  the 
colours  in  nature.     Chevreul  lays  down  the  law,  that  in 

*  Chevreul's  Taper  on  Chemical  Reports,  p.  207. 


174      ADAPTATION    OF    THE    COLOUKS    OF    PLANTS,    ETC. 

the  case  of  the  eye  seeing  at  any  time  two  colours  which 
are  in  contact,  they  will  appear  as  dissimilar  as  possible. 
In  other  words,  on  two  colours  being  seen  simultaneously, 
the  complementary  of  the  one  will  be  added  to  the  other. 
Thus,  if  a  yellowish  green  leaf  and  a  red  flower  be  under 
the  view  at  the  same  time,  the  yellow  green  will  thereby 
be  more  inclined  to  green,  and  the  red  will  acquire  a 
slight  tinge  of  blue,  and  the  two  will  be  brought  more 
nearly  into  the  complementary  state.  In  this  way  the 
eye  itself  can  rectify  any  slight  defect  in  the  harmonies  of 
adjacent  colours. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON. 

SECT.  I. THE   HOMOLOGIES    AND    HOMOTYPES    OF   THE 

VERTEBRATE    SKELETON. 

In  the  last  age  there  raged  a  famous  scientific  contro- 
versy, which  may  be  summarily  represented  as  a  dispute 
as  to  which  of  the  two  great  principles  which  we  are  un- 
folding should  he  detected  in  the  animal  frame.  The  illus- 
trious Cuvier,  in  building  up  the  science  of  comparative 
anatomy,  proceeded,  in  all  his  investigations,  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  every  particular  member  of  the  body  had  a 
special  or  final  cause.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great 
Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  first  the  co-operator  and  then  the 
rival  of  Cuvier,  delighted  to  trace  a  unity  of  plan  running 
through  the  bones  of  the  skeleton.  In  1830,  this  con- 
troversy came  to  a  public  explosion,  which  was  viewed 
with  intense  anxiety  by  all  interested  in  natural  science, 
and  in  particular  by  the  poet  Goethe,  who  proclaimed  it 
to  be  a  far  more  important  event  than  the  French  Revo- 
lution, which  was  ringing  that  same  year  in  the  ears  of 
Europe.  In  conducting  the  dispute,  extreme  positions 
were  taken  by  both  sides.  Attached  to  the  principle  of 
final  cause,  and  having  found  how  prolific  it  was,  in  his 
hands,  of  brilliant  discoveries,  Cuvier  was  not  willing  to 
admit  the  theory,  (though  he  helped  greatly  to  establish 
the  fact,)  that  there  is    in  the  skeleton  a  general  corre- 


176  THE    HOMOLOGIES    AND    HOMOTYPES 

spondence  of  parts,  which  can  have  no  reference  to  the 
wellbeing  of  the  animal,  or  the  special  functions  of  the 
organ.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not 
see  that  his  doctrine  of  analogy  was  perfectly  consistent 
with  teleology,  and  he  connected  his  theory  of  unity  with 
the  untenable  doctrine  of  the  transformation  of  species. 
This  dispute  should  now  be  regarded  as  settled,  by  the 
establishment  of  both  doctrines — both  that  of  general 
homology  and  that  of  special  teleology  ;  and  the  former, 
we  are  convinced,  will  be  found,  when  properly  interpre- 
ted, to  yield  as  rich  a  contribution  to  the  cause  of  natural 
theology  as  the  latter. 

Any  one  may  convince  himself,  very  easily,  that  in  a 
general  sense  there  are  model  forms  in  the  construction 
of  the  skeleton.  He  will  see  at  a  glance  that  every  spe- 
cies of  animal  has  its  normal  shape,  and  this  is,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  determined  by  the  length,  thickness, 
and  relative  position  of  its  bones.  In  the  human  frame, 
there  are  organs  which  have  been  used  as  standards  of 
measurements,  which  they  could  not  have  been  unless 
their  size  had  been  approximately  definite.  The  length 
of  the  arm,  from  the  elbow  to  the  tip  of  the  mid-finger, 
furnished  the  cubit  to  many  nations  of  antiquity.  The 
hand-breadth  and  the  span  were  measures  among  the 
ancient  Hebrews.  In  not  a  few  countries  the  stretch  of 
the  arms,  the  pace,  the  palm,  the  breadth  of  the  thumb, 
have  been  used  to  indicate  linear  measure.  Among 
artists  the  human  frame  has  long  been  known  to  have 
proportions  in  its  members.  The  visible  outline  of  the 
head  in  front  is  divided  into  four  equal  parts  ; — the  first, 
from  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  setting  of  the  hair  ;  the 
second,  from  this  to  the  root  of  the  nose  ;  the  third,  the 
nose  ;  and  the  fourth,  from  the  lower  part  of  the  nose  to 
the  chin.     The  height  of  the  figure  is  found  to  be  eight 


OF  THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON.         177 

beads  ;  the  first  reaching  from  summit  of  head  to  chin, 
the  second  from  chin  to  breast,  the  third  from  breast  to 
navel,  the  fourth  from  navel  to  top  of  thigh,  the  fifth  to 
middle  of  thigh,  the  sixth  to  knee,  the  seventh  to  the 
calf  of  the  leg,  and  the  last  to  the  heel.  The  body  is 
thus  divided  into  two  equal  parts — one  from  head  to  hip, 
the. other  from  hip  to  heel.  The  length  of  the  frame  is 
also  known  to  be  equal  to  the  line  drawn  from  finger-tops 
to  finger-tops  of  the  outstretched  arms. 

But  without  dwelling  longer  on  these  general  topics, 
we  proceed  to  shew,  in  a  scientific  manner,  that  the  ver- 
tebrate skeleton  consists  of  a  series  of  pieces  constructed 
on  a  common  plan  ;  and  in  doing  so,  we  shall  largely 
avail  ourselves  of  the  masterly  researches  of  Professor 
Owen,  who  has  done  so  much  towards  the  completion  of 
this  most  interesting  subject. 

We  know  that  the  skeleton  is  not  a  peculiarly  inter- 
esting object  to  an  untutored  eye.  It  has  been  associated, 
in  the  minds  of  many,  with  the  grave's  mouth  and  mor- 
tality. It  possesses  in  itself  no  physical  beauty  ;  it  is 
meant  to  be  wrapt  up  from  the  view  by  a  covering  of 
flesh  and  muscles,  which  are  made,  for  our  gratification, 
to  present  themselves  in  full  and  rounded  forms.  Still, 
to  minds  which  are  fitted  to  penetrate  beneath  the  sur- 
face, it  has  become  an  object  of  intense  interest,  and  is 
felt  to  possess  not  a  little  beauty.  The  reason  is,  that 
there  has  been  a  perception  of  the  unity  of  the  structure 
along  its  whole  length,  and  from  the  highest  to  the  low- 
est animal  in  the  class,  and  of  the  suitableness  of  the 
infinitely  varied  parts  to  their  infinitely  diversified  func- 
tions. 

Each  of  the  series  of  parts  which  makes  up  the  verte- 
brate skeleton  is  called  a  Vertebra.  It  will  be  sufficient 
for  our  purpose  to  indicate  here  the  principal  parts  of  the 


178  THE    HOMOLOGIES    AND    HOMOTYPES 

typical  vertebra,  without  entering  into  those  more  minute 
details  which  are  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  the  com- 
parative anatomist ;  for  these  details  we  would  refer  to 
Professor  Owen's  paper  on  the  Megatherium,  in  the  Phi- 
losophical Transactions  for  1850. 

Typical  Vertebra  consists  of  a  centre  or  body,  around 
which  are  arranged  other  pieces, 
(called  technically  apophyses,  or 
projecting  parts,)  so  as  to  form 
two  principal  arches,  one  supe- 
rior,* the  other  inferior.  The 
upper  arch  gives  protection  to 
nervous  matter,  and  is  hence 
called  neural  :  it  is  bounded  on 
each  side  by  two  principal  pieces, 
called  neurapophyses,  and  is 
closed  above  by  the  neural  spine, 
ks  so    called     from     its     frequently 

Fl0-83-+  pointed    form  ;    (it    is,   however, 

sometimes  bifid.)  The  lower  arch,  called  haemal,  pro- 
tects blood-vessels,  &c,  (hence  its  name,  from  Greek, 
haima,  blood  ;)  it  also  consists  of  lateral  pieces,  called 
respectively  pleurapophyses  and  haemapophyses,  and  is 
closed  by  the  haemal  spine,  which,  like  the  neural  spine, 
is  sometimes  cleft.  The  body  of  the  vertebra  may  be  con- 
sidered the  foundation  of  the  arches,  and  the  neural  and 
haemal  spines  represent,  in  position,  the  keystones  of  each. 
Sometimes  the  upper  arch  comprehends  a  pair  of  bones, 
called  diapophyses,  and  the  lower  an  additional  pair,  call- 
ed parapophyses. 


*  In  the  erect  position  of  man,  these  are  respectively  posterior  and  anterior. 

t  Fio.  33.  Typical  Vertebra;  tos,  neural  spine;  n,  neurapophysis  ;  N,  neural  arch; 
e,  centrum,  or  centre  piece;  pi,  pleurapophysis ;  h,  haemapophysis  ;  hs,  hsemal  spine ;  II 
haemal  arch ;  d,  diapopbysis ;  p,  parapophysis. 


OF  THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON. 


179 


Generally  speaking,  it  is  not  difficult  to  demonstrate, 
that  in  the  chain  of  bones  extending  from  the  head  to 
the  tail  inclusive,  we  have  a  series 
of  pieces  partaking  of  the  nature 
of  the  common  typical  structure 
just  described.  It  is  true  that 
some  present  a  near  approach  to 
the  model,  while  in  others  the 
rea.  nature  of  the  parts  is  consid- 
erably masked,  so  that  careful  ex- 
amination is  necessary  to  show  the 
relation.  Knowing  the  type,  how- 
ever, we  can  explain  all  departures 
from  it,  whether  owing  to  omission 
or  contraction,  adhesion  or  compli- 
cation of  pieces. 

As  there   is   a   model  vertebra, 
so  there  is  an  archetype  skeleton, 

and  we  shall  transfer  to  our  pages  the  instructive  dia- 
gram given  by  Professor  Owen  in  his  work  on  the 
"  Homologies  of  the  Vertebrate  Skeleton."  The  elements 
of  each  vertebra  are  indicated  by  the  peculiar  shading, — 

n,  neurapophyses,      .     thus 


d.  diapophyses, 
jo,  parapophyses,   . 
c,  centre  or  body, . 
pi,  pleurapophyses, 


thus 
thus 
thus 
thus 


a 


^s 


ns,  neural  spine,  and  lis,  hsemal  spine,  are  left  unshaded, 
the  appendages  are  represented  by  dots. 

*  Fig.  34.  The  relations  of  the  parts  in  Fig.  33  will  be  rendered  more  evident  by  com- 
paring it  with  Fig.  34;  the  references  are  the  same  in  both;  y,  hypapophysis ;  «,  epapo- 
physis. 


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HOMOLOGIES    OF    THE    VERTEBRATE    SKELETON.       181 

The  four  anterior  vertebras  constitute  the  skull  or 
brain-case  ;  the  first  is  called  nasal,  because  it  supports 
and  protects  the  organs  of  smell  ;  the  second  is  named 
the  frontal  vertebra,  corresponding  to  the  forehead  ;  the 
third  is  the  parietal,  from  Latin  paries,  a  wall,  because 
its  elements  chiefly  form  the  sides  of  the  skull  ;  the 
fourth  is  denominated  occipital,  corresponding  to  the 
occiput,  or  hind-head.  Succeeding  these  we  observe  a 
series  of  pieces  forming  the  bony  framework  of  the  neck, 
chest,  abdomen,  loins,  .and  tail. 

Generally  speaking,  we  observe  the  following  peculi- 
arities in  these  different  regions  respectively  ;  in  the  head 
the  neural  arch  is  highly  enlarged  in  order  to  protect  the 
brain,  in  the  neck  and  succeeding  regions  the  same  arch 
is  only  moderately  developed  in  correspondence  with  the 
size  of  the  spinal  cord.  In  the  trunk  it  is  the  haemal 
arch  which  attains  largest  dimensions,  its  functions  being 
to  guard  the  larger  blood-vessels  and  viscera.  In  the 
tail  both  arches  are  generally  suppressed,  and  the  body 
of  the  vertebra  alone  remains. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  bony  framework  of  man  devi- 
ates very  considerably  from  the  archetype,  but  as  "  more 
than  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  bones  in  the  human  skeleton 
have  their  homologues  (or  namesakes)  recognised  by 
common  consent  in  skeletons  of  all  vertebrata,"*  if  it  can 
be  shewn  that  the  skeleton  of  man  consists  of  a  series  of 
similar  pieces,  and  may  be  referred  to  the  archetype,  it 
will  be  obviously  unnecessary  to  occupy  space  in  discuss- 
ing the  same  points  regarding  animals  lower  in  the  scale  , 
these  last,  however,  will  afford  examples  not  a  few  under 
the  special  branch  of  our  subject. 

Since  the  day  when  Oken  saw  the  bleached  skull  of  a 
deer  in  the  Hartz  forest,  and  exclaimed,  "  It  is  a  verte- 

*  Owen,  Lecture  at  Eoyal  Institution,  January  184T. 


182  THE    HOMOLOGIES   AND    HOMOTYPES 

bral  column,"  the  idea  that  the  brain-case  is  really  made 
up  of  vertebras  has  been  fully  tested  and  matured  by 
anatomists  of  the  highest  authority,  among  the  most  con- 
spicuous of  whom  is  our  own  countryman,  Professor 
Owen.  There  has  doubtless  been  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  number  of  vertebras  composing  the  skull,  but 
respecting  its  general  construction  there  is  agreement 
among  the  best  authorities. 

First,  or  nasal  vertebra  in  man. — The  centrum  or 
body  is  the  bone  called  vomer  ;  the  neur apophyses  are 
formed  by  the  perpendicular  plate  of  the  ethmoid  bone, 
which,  in  reality,  consists  of  two  pieces  united  toge- 
ther ;  the  neural  arch  is  thus  obliterated  ;  the  neural 
spine  is  bifid,  and  is  represented  by  the  two  nasal  bones. 
The  inferior  arch  of  this  vertebra  is  composed  as  fol- 
lows : — the  pleurapophyses  are  formed  by  the  palate 
bones  ;  the  hcemapophyses  are  the  bones  of  the  upper 
jaw  ;  the  hcemal  spine  is  divided,  and  consists  of  the 
intermaxillary  bones  which  support  the  front  or  incisor 
teeth. 

Second,  or  frontal  vertebra. — The  centrum  is 
formed  by  the  presphenoid  bone  ;  the  orbito-sphenoids 
are  the  neur  apophyses ;  the  frontal  bone  forming  the  ex- 
panded brow  in  the  human  head,  is  the  flattened  neural 
spine  ;  in  the  inferior  arch  the  ring  of  bone,  called  by 
osteologists  the  external  auditory  process,  is  the  pleura- 
p>ophysis;  the  lower  jaw  represents  hcemapophysis  and 
hcemal  spine. 

Third,  or  parietal  vertebra. — The  centre  is  formed 
by  the  basisphenoid  bone  ;  the  alisphenoids  are  neura- 
pojmyses;  the  parietal  bones  form  the  cleft  and  expanded 
neural  spine;  the  styloid  pieces  of  the  temporal  bone  are 
pleurapophyses  ;  the  lesser  cornua  of  the  hyoid  bone 
(lying  in  the  upper  and  fore-part  of  the  neck)  are  hcema- 


OF  THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON. 


183 


popliyscs;  the  body  of  the  same  bone  forming  the  hcemal 
spine,  and  thus  completing  the  arch. 

Fourth,  or  occipital  ver- 
tebra.— The  basilar  piece  of 
anatomists  is  the  centre ;  the 
sides  which  bound  the  open- 
ing in  the  occipital  bone, 
through  which  the  upper  part 
of  the  spinal  cord  is  continu- 
ous with  a  portion  of  the  cere- 
bral mass,  constitute  the  neu- 
rapophyses  surmounted  by  the 
expanded  neural  spine.  The 
lower  or  haemal  arch  of  this  vertebra  is  removed  from  its 
natural  position  in  man,  as  in  most  vertebrata — the 
reason  of  this  will  be  discussed  in  a  subsequent  para- 
graph. The  scapulas  or  shoulder-blades  are  the  pleu- 
rapophyses  ;  their  appendages,  called  coracoid  processes, 
constitute  the  haamapophyses  ;  and  the  haemal  spine  is 
wanting,  f 

The  seven  vertebras  of  the  neck  are  admitted  to  pos- 
sess the  general  elements  of  the  typical  vertebra,  the 
parts,  however,  are  generally  considerably  modified  in 
relation  to  the  functions  of  that  portion  of  the  frame  to 
which  they  belong. 

The  vertebras  of  the  back  are  twelve  in  number  ;  the 
neural  canal  in  each  is  sufficiently  obvious,  and  of  mo- 
derate size  ;  the  haemal  arch  is  highly  enlarged  ;  the  ribs 


*  Fio.  30.  Parietal  segment,  or  vertebra  of  man.  The  neural  arch  Is  ample,  (n,)  to 
protect  part  of  the  brain  :  the  hicmal  (n)  is  contracted.  In  this  case  the  diapophyses, 
d,  arc  wedged  between  the  neurapoph yses,  n,  and  the  large  neural  spine,  m ,'  e  is  a  piece 
called  epapophysis,  which  lies  upon  the  centrum,  c  ,"  a,  h,  and  hs  represent  the  parts  of 
the  hyoid  bone  suspended  in  the  upper  and  fore-part  of  the  neck,  and  closing  the  ha;mal 
arch. 

t  In  order  to  simplify  the  subject,  we  have  omitted  reference  to  diapophyses  and  pa- 
rapophyses. 


184  THE    HOMOLOGIES    AND    HOMOTYPES 

are  the  pleurapophyses,  succeeded  by  the  hasmapophyses. 
or  cartilages  of  the  ribs,  and  finally  closed  by  the  united 
hcenial  spines,  which  constitute  the  sternum,  or  breast- 
bone. 

In  the  five  vertebras  of  the  loins,  the  elements  are  not 
so  obvious  as  in  those  of  the  back.  The  pleurapophyses 
are  short,  and  firmly  joined  to  the  central  portion  ;  the 
hasmal  arch  is  not  completed  by  bony  elements. 

The  five  sacral  vertebras  have  their  bodies  firmly  joined 
in  the  adult,  and  these  same  elements  diminish  in  size 
from  the  first  to  the  last.  The  neural  arch  is  complete 
only  in  the  first  three  ;  the  neural  spines  of  the  last  two 
are  absent.  The  heemal  arch  of  the  first  sacral  vertebra 
is  usually  considered  as  formed  of  that  part  of  the  pelvis 
called  ilium  ;  the  portion  called  pubis  is  a  hasinapophysis; 
the  ischium  is  the  basin  apophysis  of  the  second  sacral 
vertebra. 

The  four  or  five  succeeding  and  terminal  pieces  of  the 
back-bone  in  man,  correspond  to  the  tail  in  the  lower 
animals,  and  for  the  most  part  consist  of  the  centra 
only. 

Such  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  generally  admitted 
views  held  respecting  the  nature  of  the  human  skeleton, 
(exclusive  of  the  limbs,  which  will  occupy  attention  in 
subsequent  paragraphs  ;)  and  as  such  have  been,  in  many 
instances,  arrived  at  by  comparison  with  the  bony  frame- 
work of  animals  lower  in  the  scale,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
allude  to  these  under  this  department  of  our  subject. 

While,  therefore,  the  entire  skeleton  in  every  vertebrate 
animal  is  constructed  according  to  a  common  plan,  and 
the  series  of  vertebras  of  which  it  consists  may  all  be  re- 
ferred to  one  model,  it  appears  to  us  that  there  is  good 
reason  for  proceeding  a  step  farther,  and  coming  to  the 
conclusion,  that  unity  of  form  also  prevails  in  the  indi- 


OF  THE  VERTEBKATE  SKELETON.         185 

vidual  pieces  of  the  typical  vertebra  and  its  appen- 
dages. 

We  may  first  allude  to  the  appendages  or  limbs,  as 
affording  the  most  evident  indications  of  such  unity.  If 
we  take,  as  the  typical  form,  a  bone  of  the  hand  (meta- 
carpal,) or  of  the  foot  (metatarsal,)  we  shall  find  that 
there  is  a  striking  resemblance  to  it  in  all  the  elements 
of  every  limb.*  This  typical  bone  may  be  described  as 
having  a  nearly  cylindrical  shaft,  dilated  towards  its  two 
extremities.  The  large  cannon  bone  in  the  foot  of  the 
horse  (see  Fig.  43)  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  form 
alluded  to.  Now,  this  is  the  prevailing  shape  in  all  the 
principal  bones  of  the  limbs.  In  man,  for  example,  such 
general  outline  exists  in  the  bones  of  the  arm,  fore-arm, 
hand  and  fingers  ;  in  thigh,  \eg,  foot,  and  toes.  The 
short  and  frequently  irregular  bones  of  the  wrist  and 
ankle  present  the  greatest  departure  from  the  type  ;  but 
in  some  animals  the  relation  is  obvious  enough.  Thus, 
in  the  common  frog,  certain  of  the  ankle-bones  (calca- 
neum  and  astragalus  of  anatomists)  assume  exactly  the' 
typical  form. 

In  the  individual  pieces  of  the  vertebra  itself,  we  shall 
find  evident  traces  of  similarity  to  a  typical  form..  The' 
centrum,  or  body  of  the  vertebra,  presents  a  close  approach 
to  the  model  in  the  caudal  part  of  the  skeleton.  This  is 
evident  in  a  great  number  of  instances.  One  may  suffice: 
the  bones  of  the  tail,  in  the  young  African  elephant,  con- 
sist of  centrum  only,  and  each  very  much  resembles  in 
form  a  metacarpal  or  metatarsal  bone. 

*  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  notice  here,  that  the  same  form  of  an  organ  appears  in  plants. 
For  example,  the  stalk  which  supports  the  leaflets  of  species  of  ./Eseulus,  the  horse- 
chestnut,  exactly  resembles  a  bone  of  the  hand  or  foot;  and  in  the  manna-ash,  we  have 
four  or  more  pieces  of  like  shape  forming  the  main  stalk  of  the  compound  leaf,  separating 
at  the  joints,  and  resembling  a  series  of  phalanges,  as  in  a  finger  or  toe.  The  same  gen- 
eral outline  is  often  visible  in  the  bole  of  well-developed  trees. 


186  THE    HOMOLOGIES   AND    HOMOTYPES 

The  elements  of  the  inferior  or  haemal  arch  present 
very  clear  examples  of  conformity  to  the  type.  Pleura- 
pophyses  or  ribs  are  not  always  curved  and  fiat  bones, 
such  as  we  see  in  Mammalia  generally,  and  in  the  New 
Zealand  bird  called  Apteryx.  In  not  a  few  instances, 
especially  certain  aquatic  birds,  (the  guillemot,  for  ex- 
ample,) the  ribs  are  narrow  and  cylindrical,  and  bear 
considerable  resemblance  to  the  lengthened  bones  of  the 
fingers  which  form  the  framework  of  the  bat's  wing.  The 
numerous  ribs  of  the  boa  and  other  serpents,  differ  from 
the  model  only  in  being  curved.  The  shoulder  or  sca- 
pular is  a  pleurapophysis,  (sometimes  with  conjoined 
hseroapophysis.)  In  man  and  mammalia  generally  it  is 
broad  and  flat,  but  in  many  birds  it  is  long  and  narrow, 
exactly  like  a  rib  ;  and  since,  in  some  aquatic  birds,  the 
ordinary  ribs  very  much  resemble  the  model  shape,  we 
have  thus  transitional  forms  conducting  us  to  the  original 
type.  The  pelvis,  intended  to  support  and  protect  im- 
portant viscera,  and  give  attachment  to  powerful  muscles, 
shews  also  striking  departure  from  the  model.  But  in 
the  frog,  the  iliac  bones  (pleurapophyses)  very  much  re- 
semble the  typical  form.  We  have  evident  examples  of 
likeness  to  our  assumed  model  in  the  other  elements  of 
the  lower  arch,  viz.,  the  rib  and  its  cartilage,  (pleurapo- 
physis and  hasmapophysis.)  Mere  curvature  of  the  parts, 
so  as  to  assist  in  the  formation  of  an  arch,  cannot  be 
considered  as  very  materially  affecting  the  conclusion  to 
be  drawn.  As  regards  the  haemal  spine,  it  would  not 
be  easy  to  recognize  any  conformity  to  a  primary  shape 
in  the  sternum  or  breast-bone  of  man  or  of  a  bird ; 
but  in  many  animals,  such  as  the  lion,  elephant,  walrus, 
greyhound,  &c,  this  part  of  the  skeleton  consists  of 
a  linear  series  of  pieces,  exactly  resembling  the  typical 
form. 


OF  THE  VERTEBBATE  SKELETON.         187 

In  the  elements  of  the  superior  or  neural  arch,  the 
departure  from  the  model  is  generally  greater  and  more 
constant  than  it  is  in  the  lower  or  haemal  arch.  The  flat 
bones  of  the  skull  deviate  widely  from  the  type,  but  not 
more  so  than  the  shoulder  blade  or  the  pelvis,  both  of 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  present  transitional  forms.  The 
very  important  functions  of  the  brain-case,  as  a  protector 
of  the  important  parts  within,  necessarily  imply  a  great 
and  constant  deviation  from  the  model  form.  If  we  exa- 
mine the  principal  element  of  the  neural  arch  (neurapo- 
physis)  of  any  large  vertebra,  as  in  the  baleen-whale,  or 
in  the  finner,  we  see  that,  after  all,  it  may  be  referred  to 
the  same  general  form  which  ribs  assume,  and  they,  as 
we  have  seen,  can  be  traced  to  a  model  bone.  The  neural 
spine  is  indirectly  referable  to  the  same  type,  and  by 
similar  steps.  We  observe  it  in  the  dorsal  region  of 
ruminants,  and  other  animals  attaining  great  length,  and 
resembling  a  rib,  being,  however,  straight.  There  is  but 
little  difference  in  form  between  the  longer  neural  spines 
of  the  dorsal  vertebras  in  the  horse,  and  the  first  rib  of  the 
same  animal. 

On  the  whole,  we  think  there  are  evident  traces  of 
community  of  form  in  the  parts  of  the  typical  vertebra. 
The  subject  is  interesting,  and  merits  attention  and  fur- 
ther investigation  by  those  favourably  situated  for  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  and  studying  the  forms  and  transi- 
tions in  an  extensive  series  of  skeletons. 

There  are  not  only  proofs  of  general  order  as  regards 
reference  to  a  typical  bone,  vertebra,  and  archetype 
skeleton,  but  there  are  some  well-established  facts 
respecting  the  number  of  the  vertebras  themselves. 
Those  entering  into  the  formation  of  the  brain-case 
in  mammalia  are  four,  those  of  the  neck  are  seven, 
except  in  the  case  of  the  three-toed  sloth,  which   has 


188  THE    HOMOLOGIES    AND    HOMOTYPES 

nine,  and  the  manati,  in  which  only  six  are  said  to 
exist.* 

The  dorsal  vertehra3  are  usually  considered  as  charac- 
terized by  the  presence  of  long,  arched,  more  or  less 
moveable,  pleurapophyses  or  ribs,  and,  taking  such  as  a 
mark  of  distinction,  we  find  that  their  number  varies  in 
different  cases. 

In  most  carnivorous  or  flesh-eating  animals,  the  num- 
ber of  vertebras  of  back  and  loins  together  is  very  con- 
stant, though  the  exact  number  of  those  called  dorsal 
presents  variations,  as  the  following  examples  will 
shew :  f — 

Back. 
American  Black  Bear,  .         .         14 

Dog, 13 

Panther, 13 

Spotted  Hyaena,           .        .         .         15 
Glutton, 15 

According  to  Professor  Owen,  all  mammiferous  ani- 
mals, called  Artiodactyles,  as  the  ox,  &c,  having  either 
two  or  four  toes,  agree  in  having  nineteen  vertebras  be- 
tween the  neck  and  the  sacrum  ;  this  is  remarkable  when 
compared  with  the  odd-toed  group,  usually  called  Peris- 
sodactyles,  which  present  great  irregularity  in  the  number 
of  the  corresponding  vertebras,  there  being,  for  example, 
twenty-two  in  Khinoceros  ;  twenty-three  in  Tapir  and  the 
Palasotherium ;  and  twenty-nine  in  Hyrax. 

DIVERGING  APPENDAGES  OR  LIMBS. 

These  constitute  the  limbs  of  animals,  which  are  just 
lateral  appendages  of  the  typical  vertebra.     The  simplest 

*  According  to  Maclise,  some  of  the  monkey  tribe  have  only  five  or  six  neck  vertebrae, 
und  occasionally  also  in  man  the  same  occurs. — (Medical  Times  and  Gazette,  January, 
1854.) 

t  Coote  on  Homologies  of  Human  Skeleton,  p.  26. 


Loins. 

Total. 

6 

20 

7 

20 

7 

20 

5 

20 

5 

20 

OF  THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON.         189 

example  of  such  appendage  is  very  evident  on  examining 
the  skeleton  of  a  bird.  Attached  to  its  ribs  or  pleurapo- 
physes,  there  are  seen  short  flat  pieces,  which,  being 
directed  backwards,  overlap  the  external  surface  of  the 
next  rib  behind.  (See  a,  Fig.  37  ;  also  a  and  65,  Fig. 
35.)  Similar  appendages  are  found,  less  perfectly  de- 
veloped, in  certain  reptiles.  They  also  occur  in  the 
abdominal  parts  of  the  most  bony  fishes,  in  which  their 
length  is  such  that  they  reach  even  to  the  skin.  They 
are  considered  as  parts  of  the  primitive  segment  or  ver- 
tebra, though  less  constant  than  the  arches  which  support 
them.  Now,  the  simplest  form  of  limb  is,  in  its  nature, 
but  very  little  removed  from  such  diverging  appendage  ; 
in  some  of  the  lower  vertebrata,  as  Protopterus,  the  limbs 
are  reduced  to  an  unbranched  ray. 

Through      various  a 

species  of  Amphiuma, 
and  in  Proteus,  we 
observe  greater  com- 
plexity, (though  still 
of  low  type  compared 
with  the  extremities 
of  man,)  and  this  goes 
on  step  by  step  in  dif-  FlG- 37-* 

ferent  animals,  till  we  reach  the  arrangements  which 
characterize  the  higher  forms.  The  Protopterus,  whose 
simple  limbs  afford  proof  of  their  identity  with  the 
diverging  appendages  of  the  typical  vertebra,  present 
also  proofs  that  the  fore  and  hind  limbs  are  homo- 
types,  both  being  in  that  animal  precisely  of  the  same 
simple  nature.     But  even  in  the  higher  animals,  man 


*  Fio.  3T.  Occipital  vertebra  of  Protopterus.  The  hcemal  arch  is  large,  consisting  oi 
pi,  pleurapophysis ;  h.  hremapophysis ;  hremal  spine  is  wanting.  The  long,  simple, 
jointed  ray,  a,  57,  is  the  diverging  appendage  or  rudimentary  limb. 


190  THE    HOMOLOGIES    AND    HOMOTYPES 

for  example,  the  resemblance  is  sufficiently  obvious ; 
the  arm  and  thigh,  fore-arm  and  leg,  wrist  and  ankle- 
joint,  hand  and  foot,  are  the  corresponding  parts  of 
each  limb  ;  these  members  are  therefore  homotypes. 
But  under  whatever  forms  the  limbs  exist,  they  are  sup- 
ported by  inverted  arches,  the  presence  of  which  is  more 
constant  than  that  of  the  appendages  which  they  support, 
and  for  an  obvious  reason — the  arch  is  required  to  pro- 
tect certain  important  organs  which  are  always  present, 
as  the  brain  and  spinal  cord,  heart  and  lungs  ;  the  ap- 
pendage of  the  arch  comes  in  as  a  secondary  instrument, 
necessary,  doubtless,  in  the  economy  of  the  animal ;  but 
yet  less  important  in  a  general  sense  than  the  other  or- 
gans just  mentioned. 

The  parts  usually  considered  as  entering  into  the  form- 
ation of  the  upper  and  lower  limbs  in  man,  are  the 
following : — The  scapula,  or  shoulder-blade,  and  the 
attached  process  called  coracoid,  represent  respectively 
pleurapophysis  and  haemapophysis  of  the  occipital  verte- 
bra ;  the  clavicles,  or  collar-bones,  are  the  hremapophyses 
of  the  atlas,  or  first  vertebra  of  the  neck  ;  there  is  here, 
therefore  transference  of  arches  (which  are  also  imper- 
fect) from  their  natural  position  ; — the  end  of  this  we 
shall  afterwards  examine.  Then  follows  the  arm-bone, 
next  the  two  bones  of  the  fore-arm,  called  radius  and 
ulna  ;  then  the  carpus,  or  wrist,  composed  of  eight  bones 
apparently,  but  really  of  ten  in  two  rows  ;  connected  to 
certain  of  these,  we  observe  five  bones  of  the  hand  called 
metacarpus,  then  follow  those  of  the  fingers,  styled  pha- 
langes, each  digit  having  three,  excepting  the  thumb  which 
has  two. 

The  pelvic  portion  of  the  skeleton  has  been  already 
noticed  ;  it  is  in  like  manner  an  arch  supporting  diverg- 
ing appendages,  the  lower  limbs.     Each  of  these  consists, 


OF  THE  VERTEBRATE  SKELETON.         191 

first,  of  thigh-bone,  succeeded  by  the  leg-bones,  called 
tibia  and  fibula ;  then  follows  those  of  the  ankle,  the  tar- 
sus of  anatomists,  consisting  apparently  of  seven  bones 
in  two  rows,  which,  however,  really  represent  ten  primi- 
tively distinct  pieces.  Then  follow  five  metatarsals,  or 
bones  of  the  foot,  and  connected  with  their  lower  ends  are 
the  toes,  each,  with  the  exception  of  the  great  toe  having 
three  bones. 

Now,  whatever  be  the  functions  of  the  extremities  in 
any  of  the  higher  vertebrata,  we  find  all,  whether  fore  or 
hind  limbs,  constructed  on  the  same  plan  as  that  just 
described,  five  being  the  typical  number  of  digits.  It 
may  be  remarked  how  different  is  the  relative  develop- 
ment of  the  digits,  of  thumb,  index,  middle,  ring,  and 
little  fingers,  styled,  respectively,  1st,  2d,  3d,  4th,  and 
5th  in  the  human  hand.*  The  first  digit  has  only  two 
joints  ;  the  fifth  has  the  usual  number,  viz.,  three,  but 
the  whole  being  short ;  the  second  comes  next  in  length, 
then  the  fourth  ;  and  the  third  is  the  most  highly  deve- 
loped of  all.  These  peculiarities  have  distinct  reference 
to  the  general  permanence  of  these  digits  respectively, 
and  throw  light  on  certain  modifications  observed  in  ani- 
mals lower  in  the  scale. 

In  the  typical  limb,  the  shortening  of  the  thumb  and 
little  finger,  or  the  first  and  fifth  digits,  is  a  step  towards 
their  disappearance,f  the  2d,  3d,  and  4th  being  more 
permanent  ;  the  two  last  reaching  the  ground  in  the  ox, 
and  the  longest  of  the  two,  namely,  the  3d,  is  the  only 
one  which  serves  as  a  jjoint  of  support  in  the  horse. 
Professor  Owen  remarks,  that  "a  perfect  and  beautiful 

*  The  same  numbers  are  used  to  represent  the  toes ;  great  toe,  number  1;  little  toe 
number  5. 

t  A  similer  law  reigns  in  certain  plants.  In  CrucifertB,  (cabbage  tribe,)  the  stamens 
»re  usually  six,  four  of  these  being  longer  than  the  other  two.  In  Cardamine  hirsitta 
there  are  usually  only  four,  the  two  shorter  being  absent. 


192  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

parallelism  reigns  in  the  order  in  which  the  toes  succes- 
sively disappear  in  the  hind-foot  with  that  of  the  fore- 
foot."* 

Commencing  with  man  as  possessing  the  typical  num- 
ber, and  descending  to  the  lower  animals,  we  find  that 
that  digit,  (the  first,  or  thumb,  viz.,)  whose  uses,  par  ex- 
cellence, characterize  him,  is  one  of  the  first  which  disap- 
pears. Departure  from  the  typical  five  is  a  characteristic 
of  mammalia  lower  in  the  scale,  hence  the  tetra-,  tri-,  di-, 
and  mono-dactyle  limbs  common  among  them.-j*  Descend- 
ing lower  in  the  scale  to  fishes,  we  find  the  limbs  present- 
ing often  (with  a  nearer  approach  to  the  simpler  diverging 
appendages)  a  less  subordination  to  the  typical  number, 
there  being  usually  an  excess.  This,  however,  as  Professor 
Owen  remarks  respecting  the  pectoral  fin  of  the  skate  and 
its  numerous  digits,  is  not  an  example  of  complex  devia- 
tion, "  true  complexity  not  being  shewn  in  the  number, 
but  in  the  variety  and  co-ordination  of  the  parts."  In  a 
word,  all  diverging  appendages  or  limbs  are  constructed 
on  a  common  plan  ;  we  shall  afterwards  examine  their 
numerously  diversified  modifications  for  special  ends.  We 
also  observe  in  them  evident  traces  of  order  as  regards  a 
law  of  number,  and  a  general  rule  in  accordance  with 
which  they  are  present  or  absent,  as  the  necessities  of  the 
animal  require  them  or  not. 

SECT.  II. — SPECIAL  ADAPTATIONS  IN  THE  STRUCTUEE  O:- 
THE  SKELETON. 

The  subject  here  opened  to  us  is  of  vast  extent,  and 
even  not  yet  thoroughly  exhausted  by  all  that  has  been 
done  in  human  and  comparative  anatomy.     It  must  be 

*  On  Limbs,  p.  23. 

t  This  has  reference  to  digits  which  attain  functional  size. 


IN    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    THE    SKELETON.  193 

acknowledged  that  the  relation  between  special  modifi- 
cations or  departures  from  the  general  plan,  and  final 
ends  of  such,  have  not  been  determined  as  to  every  part 
of  the  animal  frame.  Nevertheless,  so  many  striking 
examples  present  themselves  to  the  careful  and  unpre- 
judiced observer,  that  it  may  be  considered  a  legitimate 
conclusion  that  there  is  such  a  general  relation,  although 
the  cautious  reasoner  may  hesitate  to  give  a  positive 
decision  in  every  instance  which  may  come  under  his 
notice. 

We  can  indicate  only  some  of  the  more  obvious  cases 
illustrative  of  the  coincidence  between  the  principle  of 
order  and  that  of  special  adaptation.  We  may  appro- 
priately open  this  part  of  our  subject  by  glancing  at  the 
modifications  observed  in  the  vertebrate  series  in  man. 

In  the  cranial  vertebra?  we  observe  two  remarkable 
contrasts  in  the  development  of  the  neural  arches ;  which 
are  more  or  less  extended  according  to  the  purpose  which 
they  serve  in  reference  to  the  particular  part  of  the  brain 
over  which  they  are  situated.  The  great  size  of  the 
nervous  centre,  that  is,  the  brain,  requires  a  correspond- 
ing enlargement  in  certain  neural  arches,  and  this  is 
found  to  be  actually  provided.  Each  vertebra  gives  pro- 
tection to  corresponding  parts  of  the  nervous  matter  ; 
thus,  the  cerebellum  is  protected  by  the  occipital,  the 
mesencephalon  (or  middle  portion)"*  by  the  parietal,  and 
the  prosencephalon  (fore-part  of  cerebral  mass)  by  the 
frontal  vertebra.  In  all  of  these  the  neural  arch  is 
ample,  in  distinct  relation  to  the  size  of  the  part  requir- 
ing defence.  The  less  development,  or  rather  nearly 
complete  obliteration,  of  the  neural  arch  in  the  first  or 
nasal  vertebra,,  is  commensurate  in  man  (and  other  ani- 

*  Comprehending  also  Pons  Varolii,  Corpora  quadiigemina,  pituitary  body,  and  third 
ventricle. 


194 


SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 


Fig.  38.* 


mals  besides)  with  the  small  size  of  the  remaining  portion 
of  the  brain  mass  represented  by  the  olfactory  ganglia. 
It  is  by  means  of  the  first  and  second  vertebrae  of  the 

neck  that  free  rotation 
of  the  head  is  effected. 
The  anterior  part  of 
the  first  (forming  a 
portion  of  its  centre) 
is  excavated,  in  order 
to  receive  the  tooth- 
like projection  0f  the 
second,  or  axis,  which 
is  so  called  because  there  rises  from  the  upper  part  of 
its  body  a  piece,  round  which  the  first,  or  atlas,  plays  as 
on  a  pivot,  giving  rise  to  the  lateral  movements  of  the 
head.  The  base  of  this  pivot  is  in  reality  the  body  of 
this  second  vertebra ;  its  apex, 
however,  is  formed  of  part  of  the 
body  of  the  first,  removed  from 
its  natural  position,  and  united 
to  that  of  the  second.  Now,  we 
do  not  consider  it  any  strained 
inference  when  we  affirm,  that 
there  is  here  presented  to  us 
a  notable  instance  of  special 
adaptation  for  a  particular  function. 

Generally  speaking,  the  haomal  arch  is  imperfect  in  the 
vertebras  of  the  neck,  because  the  large  size  of  its  ele- 
ments (viz.,  pleurapophyses,  hasmapophyses,  and  hasmal 

*  Fig.  38  represents  the  first  neck-vertebra  in  man  :  it  is  called  atlas,  as  supporting 
the  head.  A  strong  ligamentous  band  stretches  across  the  large  central  opening,  and 
divides  it  Into  two.  The  tooth-like  projection  of  Fig.  39  is  received  into  the  fore-part 
of  this  divided  ring,  the  posterior  allows  passage  to  the  spinal  cord. 

+  Fig.  39  is  the  axis  or  second  vertebra  of  the  neck  in  man.  The  apex  of  the  tooth- 
like projection  is  part  of  the  centre  or  body  of  the  atlas,  joined  to  the  body  or  centre  of 
the  axis. 


Fio.  39.t 


IN  THE  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  SKELETON.      195 

spiii^)  would  have  interfered  with  free  motion  in  this 
region  of  the  body.  Nevertheless,  certain  parts  which, 
on  a  cursory  glance,  appear  to  be  absent,  are  in  reality 
present,  but  are  specially  modified  by  decrease  and  coal- 
escence ;  thus,  the  portion  of  a  cervical  vertebra  project- 
ing outwards  on  each  side,  and  hence  called  by  anatomists 
the  transverse  process,  in  reality  consists  of  diapophysis, 
parapophysis,  and  a  short  pleurapophysis  or  rib,  firmly 
joined,  but  together  forming  a  hole  or  short  canal  and  a 
groove,  to  give  protection  and  support  to  a  blood-vessel 
and  nerve  respectively.  The  excessive  development  of 
the  haemal  arch  in  the  dorsal  vertebrae,  is  a  provision  for 
the  large  and  important  organs  to  be  protected — the 
heart,  lungs,  &c.  The  elastic  and  moveable  ribs  (pleura- 
pophyses)  and  their  cartilages  (haemapophyses,)  are  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  the  exhalation  and  inhalation  of  at- 
mospheric air  during  the  act  of  breathing. 

The  vertebras  of  the  loins  are  large  and  strong,  thus 
affording  a  firm  basis  of  support  to  the  superincumbent 
column  ;  the  haemal  arch  is  not  completed  by  bony  ele- 
ments, but  by  soft  elastic  walls,  which  yield  to  the  vary- 
ing expansion  of  the  viscera  within. 

The  union  of  the  sacral  vertebras  gives  additional 
strength  to  this  portion  of  the  column,  supporting,  as  it 
does,  the  elastic  spine  above  it.  The  excessive  develop- 
ment of  that  part  of  the  haemal  arch — the  pelvis  of  ana- 
tomists— is  obviously  intended  to  support  and  protect  the 
larger  viscera,  and  to  present  a  surface  of  attachment  for 
powerful  muscles.  The  united  bodies  of  the  coccygeal 
series,  forming  a  partial  concave  floor  to  the  pelvis,  afford 
additional  support  to  the  organs  protected  by  this  last. 
In  short,  while  the  skeleton  of  man  consists  throughout 
of  a  series  of  parts  all  formed  on  one  model,  yet  there  is 
a  wide  range  of  difference  in  most  of  them,  and  the  special 


196  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

modifications  have  in  all  oases  a  very  decided,  and,  in 
most  instances,  a  very  obvious  relation  to  the  development 
of  different  organs,  without  which  our  goodly  frame  could 
not  perform  its  functions,  or  even  continue  to  exist. 

We  may  now  examine  some  of  the  special  modifica- 
tions of  vertebral  elements,  as  exemplified  by  animals 
lower  in  the  scale ;  from  a  multitude  of  instances,  our 
limits  constrain  us  to  select  only  a  few.  Whether  we 
examine  fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  .or  mammals,  we  shall  find 
obvious  illustrations  of  departure  from  the  model  or  type 
in  accordance  with  some  function  neebssary  to  the  very 
existence  of  the  animal. 

In  Ophidia,  or  serpents,  certain  elements  of  the  two 
anterior  cranial  vertebrae  are  freely  moveable  on  each 
other,  instead  of  being  closely  joined  together,  as  is 
usually  the  case ;  strength  and  firmness  are  here  sac- 
rificed to  mobility  and  expansile  power  of  the  parts, 
and  why  ?  The  arrangement  has  a  clear  and  express 
relation  to  the  mode  of  feeding ;  serpents  often  swallow 
very  large  prey  entire ;  but  this  they  could  not  do  were 
the  parts  firmly  banded  together.  As  it  is,  the  mouth  is 
capable  of  great  extension,  and  the  prey  is  taken  in  with 
ease. 

In  fishes  there  exists  a  remarkable  concentration  of 
important  organs  in  the  fore-part  of  the  body.  The  head 
contains,  not  merely  the  brain  and  organs  of  the  senses, 
but,  in  addition,  the  heart  and  gills  ;  we  find,  accord- 
ingly, that  the  haemal  arches  are  commensurate  in  size 
with  the  presence  of  the  important  parts  which  they  sup- 
port and  protect.  In  the  words  of  Professor  Owen, 
"Brain  and  sense-organs,  jaws  and  tongue,  heart  and 
gills,  arms  and  legs,  may  all  belong  to  the  head  ;  and 
the  disproportionate  size  of  the  head,  and  its  firm  attach- 
ment to  the  trunk,  required  by  these  functions,  are  pre- 


IN    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    THE    SKELETON.  197 

cisely  the  conditions  most  favourable  for  facilitating  the 
course  of  the  fish  through  its  native  element." 

In  the  whale,  the  vertebrae  of  the  neck  are  joined  into 
one  solid  column.  By  this  arrangement,  greater  protec- 
tion is  afforded  to  the  nervous  cord,  as  this  large  and 
heavy  animal  ploughs  its  way  with  rapidity  through  the 
water.  Flexibility  in  the  neck,  not  needed  in  this  case 
for  other  purposes,  would  have  been  an  inconvenience. 

The  three-toed  sloth  presents  an  example  the  very 
converse  of  the  last;  the  additional  vertebras  (we  have 
already  alluded  to  it  as  an  example  of  departure  from 
the  typical  number)  in  the  neck  of  this  animal  are  ad- 
mitted to  have  a  relation  to  its  habits  ;  in  the  words  of 
Professor  Bell,  "  the  object  of  the  increased  number  of 
vertebras  is  evidently  to  allow  of  a  more  extensive  rota- 
tion of  the  head  ;  for,  as  each  of  the  bones  turns,  to  a 
small  extent,  upon  the  succeeding  one,  it  is  clear  that 
the  degree  of  rotation  of  the  extreme  point  will  be  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  pieces  in  the  whole  series."* 
But,  in  addition,  as  this  animal  spends  its  whole  life  on 
trees,  clinging  to  the  branches  with  its  powerful  limbs, 
and  feeding  on  the  twigs  of  its  arboreal  dwelling-place, 
the  length  of  its  neck  gives  it  an  advantage  in  better  en- 
abling it  to  reach  the  tender  and  extreme  branches. 

In  carnivorous  animals,  having  four  limbs  fitted  for 
seizing  and  holding  their  living  prey,  and  a  mouth  armed 
with  strong  teeth  for  tearing  it,  the  neural  spines  and 
transverse  process  of  certain  neck- vertebras  are  highly 
developed,  so  as  to  become  commensurate  with  the  power 
of  the  oblique  muscles  of  the  head,  which  are  in  them  of 
great  strength,  to  enable  them  to  perforin  their  impor- 
tant functions.  In  other  words,  the  levers  supplied  by 
certain  elements  of  the  neck  vertebras  are  in  direct  pro- 

*  Cycloptedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Article  Edentata. 


198  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

portion  to  the  active  organs  of  motion,  that  is,  the  muscles, 
which  require  them  as  mechanical  powers. 

In  birds,  the  fore-limbs  are  used  in  flight,  and  the 
function  of  the  arm  is  transferred  to  the  neck,  that  of 
prehension  to  the  beak,  which  supplies  the  place  of  the 
hand.  The  neck  is  the  only  flexible,  part  of  the  verte- 
bral series,  and  motive  power  is  abundantly  provided  for 
on  the  same  principle  as  we  have  seen  it  to  be  in  the 
sloth.  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  there  is  a  departure 
from  the  number  seven,  so  constant  in  mammals ;  the 
vertebras  ranging  from  nine  in  the  sparrow  to  twenty- 
three  in  the  swan.  The  mode  of  connexion  of  the  ver- 
tebras is  also  such  as  to  admit  of  the  utmost  freedom  of 
motion. 

In  the  dorsal  portion  of  the  vertebral  series,  we  may 
also  note  a  few  striking  adjustments.  In  certain  mam- 
malia, as  the  ox,  deer,  camel,  &c,  owing  to  the  weight  of 
the  horns  and  antlers,  or  length  of  the  neck,  continued 
muscular  exertion  would  be  necessary,  in  order  to  retain 
the  head  in  its  natural  position.  Such  disadvantages  is 
obtained  by  the  presence  of  the  part  called  pax-wax,  or 
ligament  of  the  neck — composed  of  yellow  elastic  fibres — 
which  acts  as  a  natural  spring,  and  obviates  the  need  of 
constant  voluntary  muscular  effort.  Accordingly,  we 
find  that  certain  neural  spines  in  the  back  (as  well  as  in 
the  neck)  are  greatly  elongated,  to  give  attachment  to 
the  remarkable  organ  referred  to.  In  the  aurochs,  for 
example,  some  of  the  dorsal  vertebras  have  neural  spines 
which  are  actually  longer  than  some  of  the  ribs.  Such 
modifications  are,  indeed,  generally  observed  in  browsing 
animals. 

As  in  the  fish,  excessive  development  of  certain  parts 
of  the  skull  is  a  provision  for  the  forward  position  of  the 
heart  and  sills,  so  in  air-breathing  animals   the  lower 


IN  THE  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  SKELETON. 


199 


arches  of  certain  other  vertebras  are  highly  developed, 
forming  the  ample  thorax  or  chest,  for  the  protection  of 
their  heart  and  lungs.  In  the  neck  of  the  bird  we  have 
seen  that  flexibility  is  necessary;  in  the  back,  firmness  is 
the  essential  requisite,  and  we  observe  there  union  of  ver- 
tebras. Further,  the  hasmapophyses,  which  in  man  and 
others  are  cartilaginous,  become  in  the  bird  converted 
into  bone,  and  the  united  hasmal  spines  from  the  keel  of 
the  sternum  or  breast-bone,  the  extent  of  the  surface  pre- 
sented by  which  is  directly  as  the  development  of  the 
powerful  muscles  which  are  attached,  and  directly  also, 
of  necessity,  as  the  powers  of  flight. 
In  the  ostrich,  and  cursorial  birds 
generally,  which  cannot  fly,  the 
hasmal  spines  do  not  form  any  crest. 
In  birds,  we  also  observe  union  be- 
tween the  vertebrae  of  the  loins,  an  /#[| 
arrangement  admirably  calculated  to 
give  firm  support  during  the  powerful 
and  rapid  movements  in  flight     • 

Coalescence  of  the  remaining  ver- 
tebras, in  the  adult  human  subject 
we  have  seen  to  be  the  usual  arrangement,  and  this — 
together  with  size  particularly  in  the  sacrum — appears 
to  have  relation  to  the  erect  posture  of  the  body.  In  many 
mammalia,  the  sacrum  is  proportionally  narrower  than  in 
man,  and  coalescence  of  vertebras  is  not  the  law ;  but  in 
certain  species,  which  have  the  faculty  of  assuming  the 
erect  or  semi-erect  posture,  as  some  monkeys,  bears,  and 
certain  rodents,  the  sacral  portion  of  the  skeleton  is  pro- 
portionally stronger  .than  in  others  which  have  no  such 


*  Fig.  40.  Thoracic  segment  or  vertebra  of  raven.  The  ha-mal  arch  is  ample  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  functions  as  a  protector  of  heart,  lungs,  &c,  and  as  furnishing  surfaces 
for  attachment  of  powerful  muscles.     References  are  same  as  in  preceding  figures. 


200  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

faculty.  The  permanently  separate  condition  of  the 
sacral  elements  in  the  beaver  is  an  arrangement  admir- 
ably suited  to  its  peculiar  habits,  "using,  as  it  does,  not 
only  its  long  and  powerful  tail,  but  even  the  whole  pos- 
terior half  of  the  trunk,  as  an" organ  of  propulsion  through 
the  water."* 

In  man,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  terminal  portion 
of  the  spine,  forming  the  coccyx,  consists  of  a  few  small 
pieces,  reduced  to  little  more  than  the  centrum  or  body  of 
the  vertebra.  But  in  many  of  the  lower  animals,  the  tail 
performs  important  functions,  and  attains  higher  develop- 
ment. Sir  John  Richardson,  in  his  account  of  a  journey 
through  Prince  Rupert's  Land,  mentions  a  curious  case 
of  departure  from  the  usual  type  in  the  bovine  family, 
which  is  generally  characterized  by  the  high  development 
of  the  terminal  portion  of  the  vertebral  series.  He  says, 
"  The  musk-ox  has  the  peculiarity,  in  the  bovine  tribe, 
in  the  want  of  an  evident  tail ;  the  caudal  vertebrae  are 
only  six  in  number,  being  very  flat,  and  nearly  as  short, 
in  reference  to  the  pelvis,  as  in  the  human  species.  A 
tail  is  not  needed  by  this  animal,  as,  in  its  elevated  sum- 
mer haunts,  moschetos  and  other  winged  pests  are  com- 
paratively few,  while  its  closer  woolly  and  shaggy  hair 
furnishes  its  body  with  sufficient  protection  from  their 
assaults." 

The  special  modifications  of  the  elements  of  the  caudal 
portion  are  numerous,  and  have  an  obvious  reference  to 
final  cause  or  end  to  be  served.  In  the  human  coccyx 
there  is  no  hasmal  arch.  In  the  tails  of  not  a  few  ani- 
mals, lower  in  the  scale,  it  is  distinctly  formed  of  haama- 
pophyses  and  haemal  spine.  The  prehensile  tails  of  the 
spider  monkeys,  the  powerful  oar-acting  tail  of  the 
beaver,  and  the  supporting  pillar-like  organ  in  the  kan- 

*  Cooto  oa  Homologies  of  Skeleton,  p.  61. 


IN  THE  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  SKELETON.      201 

garoo,  present  individual  peculiarities  of  the  vertebral 
elements  admirably  suited  to  the  different  uses  of  the 
part.  In  the  kangaroo  the  lower  surface  of  the  tail  is 
subject  to  pressure,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  prehen- 
sile tails  in  Phalangista  and  the  opossum,  and  in  all  these 
the  haemal  arch  is  well  developed,  in  order  to  protect  the 
blood-vessels.  "  In  Pctaurus,  Phascogale,  and  Dasyurus, 
the  tail  acts  as  a  balancing  pole,  or  serves,  from  the  long 
and  thick  hair  with  which  it  is  clothed,  as  a  portable 
blanket,  to  keep  the  nose  and  extremities  warm  during 
sleep.  The  haemal  arches  in  the  tails  of  these  are  not  so 
largely  developed  as  in  the  kangaroo  &c,  their  mecha- 
nical office  of  defending  the  blood-vessels  of  the  tail  from 
pressure  not  being  required."* 

It  is  admitted  that  the  typical  structure  may  be 
departed  from  by  excess  in  the  number  of  the  elements  ; 
if  it  can  be  shewn  that  such  departure  has  decided 
relation  to  the  habits  and  wellbeing  of  an  animal,  it 
appears  to  us  a  powerful  argument  in  favour  of  com- 
bined order  and  adaptation  ;  we  may  here  adduce  a  few 
examples. 

Seals  and  penguins  are  not  fitted  for  general  sojourn 
and  progression  on  the  land,  nevertheless  they  do  occa- 
sionally frequent  the  shore,  but  their  movements,  under 
such  circumstances,  are  peculiar.  One  of  the  highest 
authorities  to  which  we  can  refer,  specially  alludes  to 
these  animals,  and  to  modifications  in  certain  vertebras 
related  to  the  habit  in  question.  In  the  Greenland  seal, 
Professor  Owen  describes  processes  superadded  to  the 
lower  surface  of  the  lumbar  vertebrae,  (hypapophyses,) 
"indicating  great  development  of  anterior  vertebral  mus- 
cles, relating  to  peculiar  gasteropod  progression  on  land. 
In  penguins,  similar  hypapophyses  attain  their  maximum 

*  Owen,  in  Proceedings  of  Zoological  Society,  1838. 


202  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

of  development,  and  have  an  analogous  function  to  that 
in  the  seals,  extending  the  surface  of  attachment  of  the 
powerful  muscles  on  the  ventral  aspect  of  the  vertebral 
column,  which  act  in  the  shuffling  gasteropodal  move- 
ments."* 

In  the  armadillo,  whose  bony  armour  (giving  to  the 
animal  its  name)  is  of  considerable  weight  in  proportion 
to  the  size,  and  serves  as  a  defence  against  its  powerful 
foes,  we  find  two  additional  spines  (metapoplryses)  de- 
veloped, one  on  each  side  of  the  neural  spine,  upon  the 
principle  that  three  points  are  better  fitted  than  one  to 
support  a  superincumbent  weight.  Certain  serpents  feed 
upon  the  eggs  of  birds;  their  teeth  are  few  and  feeble — for 
if  the  shell  of  the  egg  had  been  broken  in  the  mouth,  the 
want  of  flexible  lips  would  have  occasioned  loss  of  the 
nutritious  contents.  Besides,  these  serpents  follow  the 
law  of  their  congeners  ;  loose  attachment  of  cranial  ele- 
ments, as  we  have  shewn,  enables  them  to  take  their  food 
entire.  The  egg,  being  thus  received,  is  ripped  open  as 
it  passes  along  the  gullet,  and  this  is  effected  by  a  con- 
trivance no  less  remarkable  for  its  simplicity  than  for  its 
efficiency.  Sharp  projections  (hypapophyses)  from  cer- 
tain vertebras  of  the  neck,  perforate  the  tube  of  the  gul- 
let, are  capped  by  hard  enamel,  and  effectually  perform 
their  proper  office. 

We  shall  close  this  part  of  our  subject  by  alluding  to 
two  notable  instances  of  special  modifications  pervading 
almost  the  whole  skeleton  in  serpents  and  tortoises.  In 
the  former  we  find  a  long  series  of  vertebras,  some  of 
whose  elements  supply  the  place  of  limbs,  which  are 
generally  wanting,  or,  if  present,  as  in  boa,  so  rudimen- 
tary as  to  be  incapable  of  performing  their  usual  func- 
tions.    The  pleurapophyses  have  free  motion,  and  act  as 

*  Professor  Owen,  in  Philosophical  Transactions.  1851. 


IN    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    THE    SKELETON.  203 

efficient  organs  in  progression  on  a  hard  surface,  by 
means  of  the  large  scuta  or  shield-like  scales  covering 
the  belly  of  the  animal.  These  scuta  form  a  number  of 
movable  broad  surfaces,  bearing  the  same  relation  to 
the  ends  of  the  ribs  which  hoofs  do  to  the  ends  of  the 
toes.  In  pelagic  serpents  which  swim  by  lateral  motion 
of  the  tail,  the  pleurapophyses  are  more  freely  movable 
m  a  lateral  than  in  a  backward  direction,  progress  in  the 
water  being  accomplished  by  rapid  lateral  curvatures  of 
the  tail  and  body.  The  neural  spines  of  the  dorsal  ver- 
tebra? are  small,  those  of  the  caudal  portion  large  and 
compressed,  and  gradually  lessening  in  size  to  the  point 
of  the  tail — a  peculiarity  of  these  vertebral  elements  in 
strict  harmony  with  the  general  compressed  state  of  the 
body,  and  that  of  the  short  but  strong  and  flat  tail, 
which  acts  as  an  oar  for  propelling,  as  well  as  a  rudder 
for  guiding.* 

The  spinal  column  of  the  Ophidia  shews  the  maximum 
of  number  of  the  different  vertebras,  and  of  flexibility  as 
a  whole.  In  the  words  of  Professor  Owen,  "At  first 
view,  the  principle  of  vegetative  repetition  seems  to  have 
exhausted  itself,  in  the  long  succession  of  incomplete  ver- 
tebras which  support  the  trunk  of  the  great  constrictors  ; 
but  by  the  endless  combinations  and  adjustments  of  the 
inflections  of  their  long  spine,  the  absence  of  locomotive 
extremities  is  so  compensated  that  the  degraded  and 
mutilated  serpent  can  overreach  and  overcome  animals 
of  far  higher  organization  than  itself;  it  can  outswim 
the  fish,  outrun  the  rat,  outclimb  the  monkey,  and  out- 
vvrestlc  the  tiger ;  crushing  the  carcase  of  the  great 
Carnivore  in  the  embrace  of  its  redoubled  coils,  and  prov- 
ing the  simple  vertebral  column  to  be  more  effectual  in 
the  stiuggle  than  the  most  strongly-developed  fore-limbs, 

*  Dr.  Cantor,  Transactions  of  the  Zoological  Society. 


204  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

with  all  their  requisite  rotatory  mechanism  for  the  effective 
varied  application  of  the  heavy  and  formidably  armed 
paws."* 

As  the  serpent  shews  us  the  highest  possible  flexibility, 
so  does  the  tortoise  exhibit  the  greatest  rigidity  and  in- 
flexibility of  vertebral  elements,  intended  also  to  accom- 
plish an  end  necessary  to  the  wellbeing  of  the  animal. 
The  carapace  or  upper  arch,  and  plastron  or  floor,  of  the 
turtle's  or  tortoise's  shell  may  be  compared  to  the  skull ; 
to  use  the  expression  of  Professor  Owen,  it  is  actually 
"  an  abdominal  skull,  formed  of  the  centra  of  back, 
loins,  and  pelvis  united  together,  their  pleurapophyses, 
haemapophyses,  and  other  elements,  being  expanded  and 
laterally  adherent ;  appendages  of  the  skin — the  der- 
mal bones — are  connate  with  some  of  the  vertebral 
elements,  the  whole  forming  a  defence  to  a  well-deve- 
loped system  of  hiemal  organs,  heart,  lungs,  and  alimen- 
tary canal." 

DIVERGING  APPENDAGES  OR  LIMBS. 

These  assume  various  forms,  from  the  simple  structure 
which  we  have  noticed  in  the  thorax  of  the  bird  up  to 
the  perfectly  developed  limbs  of  man.  Among  them  re- 
markable modifications  present  themselves,  having  evi- 
dent reference  to  the  uses  of  the  member,  whether  for 
grasping,  supporting  the  body,  flying,  swimming,  leaping, 
or  burrowing. f     The   inference   from  all  these  adapta- 

*  Owen  on  Nature  of  Limbs,  p.  90. 

1  In  a  former  paragraph  (p.  1SB)  we  have  shewn  evident  traces  of  community  of  form 
In  the  elements  of  the  vertebra  and  its  appendages ;  in  reference  to  the  modifications  of 
the  latter,  it  will  be  necessary  here  to  allude  to  the  very  ingenious  but,  we  think,  over- 
strained, views  of  M.  Gervais — (Ann.  des.  So.  Naturelles,  1853.)  According  to  Duges, 
there  is  an  arithmetical  progression  in  the  number  of  the  parts  from  arm  to  fingers, 
and  from  thi'srh  to  toes,  viz.,  arm  and  thigh,  each  of  one  piece,  leg  and  fore-arm,  each  of 
two  pieces;  in  wrist  and  ankle,  hand  and  foot,  fingers  and  toes,  the  number  five  prevails 
we  have  therefore  the  progression,  1,  2.  5.    M.  Gervais  thinks  he  finds  proof  that  in 


IN    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    THE    SKELETON.  205 

tions  of  means  to  end  cannot  be  explained  away  "by 
affirming  that  the  animal,  finding  that  it  has  an  organ 
suited  to  a  certain  purpose,  uses  it  for  that  purpose.  For 
in  the  first  place,  the  creature  is  compelled  to  a  certain 
mode  of  life  by  its  instincts,  which  are  altogether  differ- 
ent from  its  limbs  or  any  of  its  organs  ;  and,  secondly, 
its  limbs  are  suited  to  its  other  organs,  and  all  its  organs 
are  suited  to  one  another.  There  is  in  all  this  no  wis- 
dom or  foresight  on  the  part  of  the  animal,  but  there  are 
arrangements  made  for  its  welfare  by  a  Power  above  it, 
causing  independent  organs  and  instincts  to  concur  and 
co-operate. 

It  may  be  laid  clown  as  the  common  rule  that  the  pec- 
toral and  ventral  limbs  are  appendages  of  the  fourth  and 
twenty-six  segments  of  the  vetebral  series.*  The  oc- 
cipital is  always  the  fourth  vertebra,  the  pelvic  may  be 
less  constant  in  its  position.  But  displacement  of  verte- 
bral appendages  from  their  typical  position  in  the  skele- 
ton is  not  uncommon,  and  will  generally  be  found  to  be 
a  provision  for  some  peculiarity  of  function.  In  most 
fishes,  the  pectoral  fins,  which  are  its  arms,  occupy  the 
typical  position,  being  in  connexion  with  the  occipital 
vertebra,  whereas  in  man,  and  many  other  animals,  the 
same  limbs  are  removed  from  their  natural  position,  and 
are  attached  to  the  upper  part  of  the  chest.  These  dif- 
ferent dispositions  are  admitted  to  be,  in  the  one  case  as 
in  the  other,  admirably  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the 
animal.  Professor"  Owen,  referring  to  such  modifica- 
tions, remarks,  "  Wherever  either  arch  with  its  appen- 
dages  may  be   situated,  it  is  in  its  best  possible  place 

limbs  of  vertebrata  the  number  Ave  prevails  even  in  the  arm  and  fore-arm,  thigh  and 
leg,  and  that  therefore  there  is  union  of  bones  in  these  parts.     If  this  view  should  prove 
to  be  correct,  such  union  may  be  considered  as  a  special  modification  of  the  type  in  re> 
lation  to  the  functions  of  the  parts. 
*  We  adopt  here  the  views  of  Professor  Owen. 


206  SPECIAL   ADAPTATIONS 

in  relation  to  the  exigencies  and  sphere  of  life  of  the 
species."* 

We  may  next  examine  some  of  the  principal  modifica- 
tions of  the  diverging  appendages  themselves,  and  of  their 
elements,  traces  of  a  general  plan  having  already  been 
pointed  out,  and  proofs  adduced  that  law  and  order  pre- 
vail also  in  departures  from  the  type.  Although  the 
limbs  of  animals  are  diverging  appendages  of  the  typical 
vertebra,  all  such  apjDendages  do  not  necessarily  perform 
the  functions  of  limbs.  Their  simplest  and  most  rudi- 
mentary condition  has  been  already  alluded  to  as  they 
are  seen  in  the  thorax  of  the  bird,  where  they  appear  to 
serve  merely  the  purpose  of  giving  additional  strength 
and  firmness  to  the  ribs,  (pleurapojihyses,)  from  which 
they  originate. 

In  the  head  of  the  fish  we  observe  them  offering  greater 
.advance  in  development,  and  in  beautiful  harmony  with 
their  proper  function.  Those  of  the  third  or  parietal 
vertebra  constitute  the  parts  called,  technically  branchi- 
ostegals,  which,  in  most  fishes,  support  a  flap,  whose 
function  is  to  assist  in  protecting  the  gills,  and  regulat- 
ing the  admission  of  fresh  currents  of  water  to  these 
important  organs.  The  diverging  appendages  of  the 
second  cranial  vertebra  are  modified  to  form  the  opercu- 
lar bones  which  together  constitute  the  framework  of  the 
gill-covers,  by  the  movements  of  which  the  amount  and 
direction  of  the  respiratory  currents  are  principally  deter- 
mined. The  corresponding  part  in  the  anterior  segment 
of  the  head  consists  of  two  pieces  called  pterygoids,  the 
outer  of  which  serves  as  a  means  of  connexion  between 
the  haemal  arches  of  the  first  and  second  vertebra?. 
How  different,  then,  the  forms  and  uses  of  corre- 
sponding  appendages  in   the   head   of  the  fish,  for,  in 

*  Owen  on  Limbs,  p.  81. 


IN    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    THE    SKELETON.  207 

contrast  with  those  just  mentioned,  we  observe  the 
appendages  of  the  fourth  or  occipital  vertebra  forming 
the  j)ectoral  fins,  which  correspond  to  the  upper  limbs  in 
man,  and  perform  an  important,  though  not  the  prin- 
cipal part  in  aquatic  progression.  The  beautiful  harmony 
which  subsists  between  the  uses  of  the  pectoral  fins  and 
their  peculiar  structure,  has  been  so  frequently  and  fully 
discussed  in  works  of  Natural  Theology,'"''5  that  it  would 
be  needless  to  go  over  the  same  ground  here.  In  the 
frog-fishes,  which  have  the  power  of  moving  on  the 
ground  when  left  by  the  receding  tide,  in  the  expanded 
pectorals  of  the  flying-fish,  acting  as  parachutes  during 
its  powerful  aerial  leaps,  in  those  of  the  climbing  perches 
of  the  tropics,  and  in  the  ordinary  forms  presented  by  the 
fins  of  most  fishes,  we  observe  modifications  of  parts 
constructed  after  the  same  model,  but  each  in  striking 
unison  with  the  habits  of  the  animal.  In  the  fish,  then, 
the  fore-limbs  (pectoral  fins)  are  the  diverging  appen- 
dages of  the  occipital  vertebra,  and  occupy  their  natural 
position  as  such,  (that  is,  are  placed  far  forwards,)  being 
attached  to  the  hind-head.  In  other  vertebrata,  the  arch 
which  supports  them  is  transferred  from  its  normal  place 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  trunk,  and  this  transference,  and 
the  structure  of  each  piece,  are  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be 
in  complete  harmony  with  the  function  of  the  limbs,  and 
necessary  to  the  comfort  and  wellbeing  of  the  animals. 

In  birds,  for  example,  the  parts  supporting  the  ante- 
rior limbs  are  modified,  so  as  to  fit  the  diverging  appen- 
dage, to  become  an  organ  of  flight.  It  has  been  already 
mentioned,  that  the  scapula  and  coracoid  are  respectively 
pleurapophysis  and  htemapophysis  of  the  occipital  ver- 
tebra, and  the  clavicles  or  collar-bones  the  haemapophyses 
of  the  atlas,  or  first  cervical  vertebra.     The  relation  of 

*  See  Paley ;  also  Bell  on  the  Hand,  Roget's  Bridgewater  Treatise,  &c. 


208  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS 

these  to  the  appendages  which  they  support  are  such, 
that  the  two  can  only  be  instructively  studied  together. 
This  is  specially  true  of  birds.  The  great  strength  of 
the  coracoid  qualifies  it  for  its  main  function,  namely, 
to  give  attachment  to  the  limbs,  and  afford  a  strong  basis 
of  support  in  flight  during  the  quick  and  powerful  strokes 
of  the  wings. 

The  function  of  the  pectoral  wings  in  the  bird  being 
peculiar,  we  find  corresponding  modification  in  the  hard 
parts.  Appendages  of  the  skin,  the  feathers  namely, 
serve  the  purpose  of  resistance  to  the  air  in  flight,  and  so 
the  full  development  of  digits,  with  freedom  of  motion 
in  the  other  bones  of  the  limb,  is  not  needed.  The  fore- 
arm and  the  wrist-joint  are  so  constructed,  that  free 
motion  is  sacrificed  to  firmness,  and  the  bony  framework 
of  the  hand  is  rudimentary  ;  nevertheless,  the  parts  are 
not  so  obscured  that  we  cannot  indicate  their  relations, 
for  in  every  case  the  general  type  still  prevails,  and  each 
finger  corresponding  to  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  of 
the  archetype,  is  clearly  visible."  The  diverging  appen- 
dages, suspended  to  the  pelvic  arch,  and  forming  the 
lower  limbs,  are  equally  in  harmony  with  their  function 
in  different  birds  :  this  is  more  specially  observable  in 
the  metatarsal  portion  and  toes.  The  part  commonly 
called  leg  in  the  bird,  consists  generally  of  three  meta- 
tarsal bones,  which,  in  the  adult,  are  so  firmly  united 
as  to  give  the  appearance  of  one  only.  There  is  also,  in 
most  instances,  another,  which  is,  however,  small,  and 
whose  function  is  to  support  the  inner  toe.  The  posi- 
tion of  this  inner  digit  has  an  express  adaptation  to  the 
habits  of  the  bird  ;  being  on  a  level  with  the  other  toes 
in  perching  birds,  and  therefore  admirably  fitted  to  give 

*  We  may  refer  here  to  a  former  paragraph  (p.  191)  respecting  the  relative  lengths  of 
the  digits  and  their  permanence. 


IN    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    THE    SKELETON.  209 

increased  power  of  grasping ;  whereas  it  is  removed 
higher  and  higher  in  different  waders,  and  is  finally  ab- 
sent in  cursorial  birds,  as  the  emeu  and  others.  Still 
greater  reduction  in  the  number 
of  the  toes  takes  place  in  the 
ostrich,  the  third  and  fourth  alone 
remaining.  There  is  final  cause 
in  all  this  ;  "  whilst  unity  of  de- 
sign is  clearly  manifested,  the 
wisdom  of  the  Designer  is  dis- 
played, by  the  greater  strength 
which  results  from  the  minor 
degree  of  subdivision  of  the  part  I1&.41.* 

which  takes  the  largest  share  in  the  support  and  propul- 
sion of  the  body."f 

Among  mammalia  we  find  instruments  for  support, 
grasping,  climbing,  running,  leaping,  burrowing,  flying, 
swimming,  and  diving.  Now,  it  is  distinctly  observable, 
that  whatever  be  the  function  of  the  limbs,  all  are  con- 
structed after  the  same  plan,  but  varied  to  suit  the  end 
which  is  required  by  the  instincts  of  the  animal  and  its 
allotted  sphere.  It  has  been  already  stated  that  the  arms 
and  legs  of  man  are  homotypes,  and  that  the  individual 
parts  which  form  them  are  also  homotypes  ;  yet  while  so 
far  corresponding  to  each  other,  the  two  scries  are  made 
to  differ  in  order  to  suit  them  to  their  several  uses.  The 
harmonies  of  structure  and  function  in  each  of  the  limbs 
of  man,  as  well  as  in  other  animals,  have  been  so  fully 
discussed  in  different  works,  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  us 
to  enlarge  much  on  the  subject  here. 

The  fore-limbs  of  that  expert  tunnel-maker,  the  mole, 
are  admirably  suited  to  its  habits.    The  bones  of  the  arm, 

*  Fio.  41.  Foot  of  Ostrich,  consisting  only  of  digits  3  and  4. 
t  Owen  o.i  Limbs,  p.  105. 


210  SPECIAL   ADAPTATIONS 

fore-arm,  wrist,  hand,  and  fingers,  are  of  great  strength 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal ;  the  whole  limb 
is  short  and  broad  ;  the  fingers  are  armed  with  strong 
nails  ;  and  the  general  conformation  is  such  that  the 
action  of  the  powerful  muscles  renders  the  hand  a  most 
effectual  instrument  for  burrowing  in  the  soil,  through 
which,  as  Professor  Owen  remarks,  the  animal  may  be 
said  to  swim. 

The  chief  part  of  the  bat's  wing  consists  of  a  highly 
developed  hand.  The  junction  of  the  arm-bone  with  the 
shoulder-blade  is  in  harmony  with  its  function,  being 
such  as  to  permit  upward  and  downward  motion  chiefly. 
It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  collar-bone  is  longer 
and  broader  in  those  whose  flight  is  more  powerful,  such 
as  the  insect-eating  species,  than  in  those  which  subsist 
on  fruit,  and  which,  consequently,  do  not  need  swiftness 
in  pursuit  of  food.  The  arm-bone  is  long  and  slender  in 
all  bats,  the  fore-arm  is  also  long,  and  the  two  bones 
which  form  it  are  incapable  of  rotation  on  each  other,  as 
such  movement  would  have  lessened  the  impulse  of  the 
wing.  The  bones  of  the  hand  and  fingers,  excepting 
those  of  the  thumb,  are  of  great  length,  in  order  to  add 
to  the  superficial  extent  of  the  part,  which  is,  in  fact,  a 
highly  developed  hand,  the  long  fingers  being  connected 
by  a  web  to  the  very  tips.  The  small,  but  free,  thumb, 
with  its  well-developed  nail,  enables  the  animal  to  cling 
easily  to  perpendicular  surfaces  as  well  as  to  climb 
them. 

When  we  examine  animals  remarkable  for  their  powers 
of  progression  on  a  hard  surface,  we  meet  with  singular 
deviations  from  the  typical  limb,  in  respect  not  only  of 
the  number,  but  also  the  union  of  parts  ;  in  every  in- 
stance structure  and  functions  are  clearly  in  harmony 
with  the  kind  of  life  for  which  the  animal  is  intended. 


IN  THE  STKUCTUKE  OF  THE  SKELETON. 


211 


In  the  ox,  the  parts  called,  in  common  language,  the  knee 
and  the  leg,  do  not,  in  fact,  correspond  to  these  portions 
of  the  typical  member.  The  so-called  fore-knee  is  the 
wrist.,  with  the  hones  considerably  modified  ;  the  so-called 
fore-leg  is,  in  reality,  part  of  a  hand  composed  of  two 
metacarpal  bones  firmly  united  together  in  the  adult 
state,  corresponding  to  the  third  and  fourth,  and  together 
forming  the  cannon-bone.  On  either  side  are  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  second  and  fifth  digits  ;  the  thumb  has  dis- 
appeared, and  those  which  attain  functional  size,  in  other 
words,  which  reach  the  ground,  are  the  third  and  fourth. 
"  The  rudiments  of  the  second  and  fifth  digits 
are  not  without  their  use.  When  the  elk  or 
bison  treads  on  swampy  ground,  the  hoofs  ex- 
pand, the  false  hoofs  are  pushed  out,  and  the 
resisting  surface  is  increased  as  the  foot  sinks  ; 
but  when  it  is  lifted  up  the  small  hoofs  col- 
lapse to  the  sides  of  the  large  ones,  which  con- 
tract, and,  by  their  diminution  of  size,  the  act 
of  withdrawal  is  facilitated.  In  ruminants, 
confined  to  arid  deserts,  we  should  hardly  ex- 
pect to  meet  with  the  mechanism  which  seems 
expressly  adapted  to  the  marsh  and  the  swamp, 
and,  in  fact,  every  trace  of  the  second  and 
fifth  digits  has  disappeared  from  the  foot  of  fig.42*. 
the  camel  and  dromedary."f 

In  the  horse,  there  is  still  farther  reduction  in  number, 
only  a  single  digit,  the  third,  reaching  to  the  ground  and 
serving  for  support.     The  perfect  adaptation  of  the  limbs 


*  Fig.  42.  Foot  of  the  ox.  At  the  upper  part  are  seen  the  bones  of  the  ankle,  viz. 
fc,  the  cuboid;  oe,  ectocuneiform;  s,  scaphoid;  a,  astragalus;  cl,  calcaneum;  succeed- 
ing which  is  the  cannon-bone,  composed  of  the  third  and  fourth  metatarsal  joined  to- 
gether. HI.  and  IV.  are  digits ;  II.  and  V.  are  digits  in  a  rudimentary  condition ;  66  and 
C7  are  bones  of  the  leg. 

t  Owen  on  Limbs,  p.  34. 


212 


SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS    IN    THE    SKELETON. 


Fig.  434 


of  the  animal  to  its  habits  and  power  of  rapid  progres- 
sion is  so  generally  admitted,  and  has  been  so  frequently 
discussed,*  that  it  would  be  a  work  of  super- 
d(  ;  erogation   to   go    over  the   same   ground  here. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  the  principle  of  reduction  in 
number  of  the  parts,  which  we  have  already 
seen  to  be  associated  with  swiftness  of  progres- 
sion in  the  foot  of  the  ostrich,  is  carried  out 
fully  in  that  of  the  horse  :  "he  paweth  in  the 
valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength." 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  added,  that  there  is 
distinct  evidence  of  arrangement  in  the  height 
of  the  limbs  in  most  mammalia,  and  this  is  true 
of  both  fore  and  hind  extremities  :  their  length 
is  equal  to  that  of  the  head  and  neck  together  ;"f 
the  browsing  species,  therefore,  can  easily  reach 
the  herbage  necessary  for  their  subsistence. 
Bimanous  and  Quadramanous  animals  (man  and  the 
apes)  are  exceptions  ;  but  then  they  have  limbs  whose 
digits  are  fitted  to  procure  food.  Certain  others  may  be 
noted  as  exceptions,  namely,  bats,  which  feed  on  wing, 
and  the  elephant,  whose  short  neck  and  prominent  tusks 
would  prevent  browsing,  but  in  compensation,  it  is  pro- 
vided with  that  "grotesque  hand/'  the  trunk,  which  is 
merely  a  nasal  apparatus,  having  superadded  to  its  ordi- 
nary function  that  of  sensation  and  prehension. 

*  See  Bell  on  the  Hand,  etc. 

t  Straus-Durckheim,  Theologie  <le  la  Nature,  vol.  i.  p.  226. 

%  Fig.  43.  Hind-foot  of  the  horse.  The  letters  at  the  upper  part  represent  the  bones 
of  the  ankle ;  a,  astragalus ;  cl,  heel-bone  or  caleaneum,  the  prominent  part  of  which 
is  the  "hock;"  e,  scaphoid  bone;  b,  cuboid;  ce,  ectocuneiform;  cm,  mesocuneifonn, 
The  long  bone  which  succeeds  these,  and  joined  to  ce,  is  that  called  cannon-boTe,  and 
corresponds  to  the  third  metatarsal  bone;  to  its  lower  end  are  attached  the  three  bones 
(phalanges)  of  the  third  toe ;  the  last  of  the  three,  marked  III.,  is  expanded  to  sustain  the 
hoof.  The  bones  marked  II.  and  IV.,  situated  on  each  side,  are  called  by  veterinarians 
splint-bones;  they  are  the  rudiments  of  the  second  and  fourth  metatarsal  bone.  The 
cannon-bone  has  been  already  referred  to  as  presenting  the  model  after  which  all  the 
pieces  of  the  typical  vertebra  are  constructed. 


CHAPTER    Y. 

TEETH. 

SECT.  I. — TRACES   OF   ORDER   IN   THE    FORM   ANI 
STRUCTURE    OF    TEETH. 

The  upper  and  lower  jaws  alone  support  teeth  in  the 
higher  vertebrata.  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
former  corresponds  to  the  haernapophyses  and  divided 
haemal  spine  of  first  or  nasal  vertebra,  and  that  the  lower 
jaw  is  the  haemapophysis  and  haemal  spine  of  the  second 
or  frontal  vertebra.  The  teeth,  supported  by  these  ver- 
tebral elements,  are  generally  distinguishable,  in  the 
higher  vertebrata,  into  three  series,  viz.,  incisors,  canines, 
and  molars. 

The  incisor  or  cutting  teeth  occupy  the  fore-part  of 
the  maxillae,  those  of  the  upper  jaw  being  supported 
by  the  intermaxillaries,  (or  premaxillaries,)  which  corre- 
spond to  the  divided  haemal  spine  of  the  arch  to  which 
they  belong.  Generally  speaking,  the  teeth  occupying 
this  position  are  chisel-shaped.  The  tusks,  called  also 
canines,  form  the  first  of  the  series  supported  by  the 
maxillary  bones,  properly  so  called  :  these  teeth  are  gene- 
rally conical  in  form,  and  in  animals  lower  than  man, 
project  beyond  the  other  teeth.  The  molars,  as  their 
name  indicates,  are  generally  characterized  by  a  broad  flat, 
surface,  fitted  for  bruising:. 


214  TRACES    OF    ORDER 

Such  may  be  regarded  as  the  special  characteristics  of 
these  three  kinds  of  teeth,  nevertheless  there  seems  to  be 
a  common  type  embracing  all,  and  there  are  transitional 
forms.  The  incisors  are  sometimes  conical,  like  the 
canines  :  this  is  very  obvious  in  the  great  polar  bear,  as 
well  as  certain  other  carnivora  ;  and  in  the  elephant,  the 
same  teeth  constitute  the  tusks.  In  the  insect-eating 
bat,  the  projections  of  the  molars  are  conical  ;  in  the 
dolphin  and  others  of  the  whale  order,  all  the  teeth  are 
conical.  There  appear,  therefore,  to  be  clear  indications 
that  the  cone  may  be  considered  the  typical  form  of 
tooth. 

As  is  remarked,  however,  by  Professor  Owen,  "  shape 
and  size  are  the  least  constant  of  dental  characters  in  the 
mammalia,  and  the  homologous  teeth  are  determined, 
like  other  parts,  by  their  relative  position,  by  their  con- 
nexions, and  by  their  development."  We  have  already 
stated  by  what  mark,  founded  on  position,  the  incisors 
may  be  invariably  distinguished,  and  that  the  canines 
succeed  them  in  order  from  before  backwards.  The 
mode  of  development  of  the  remaining  teeth  enables  us 
to  determine  their  homologies.  In  most  mammalia 
there  are  two  sets  of  teeth,  the  milk  or  deciduous,  and 
those  which  succeed  them,  called  permanent.  Now, 
some  of  the  milk-molars  are  directly  succeeded  by  per- 
manent teeth,  which  displace  them  vertically  ;  others, 
which  appear  as  the  animal  advances  in  age,  do  not 
displace  predecessors  ;  and  hence  a  distinction  of  the 
molars  into  premolars  or  false  molars,  and  true  mo- 
lars. The  second  set  of  premolars  occupy  the  place 
of  others  which  preceded  them ;  the  true  molars  are 
situated  more  posteriorly,  and  have  had  no  prede- 
cessors. 

Investigations  of  anatomists  have  shewn  that,  in  re- 


IN  THE  FORM  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  TEETH. 


215 


ference   to   number,  the   teeth  follow  a   type,  and   the 
typical  dental  formula  is  thus  indicated  : 

T     .  3—3  .         1—1  ,         4—4         ,  3-« 

Incisors,     -g,  canines,  — j,  premolars,  ^-^  molars,  ^—^. 

The  figures  above  and  below  the 
lines  express  the  respective  num- 
bers of  teeth  on  each  side  in  upper 
and  lower  jaw. 

A  common  plan  also  prevails 
in  the  general  structure  of  the 
teeth.  Three  distinct  substances, 
differing  in  hardness  and  in  mi- 
croscopical characters,  enter  into 
their  formation.  A  perfect  mam- 
malian tooth  may  be  considered 
as  formed  principally  of  hard  den- 
ize or  ivory  in  the  centre,  still 
harder  enamel  on  the  crown,  and 
most  external  of  all,  a  layer  of 
cement,  which  is  softer  than  the 
other  two. 

Fig.  44.  Longitudinal  section  of  human  incisor, 
magnified,  p,  pulp  cavity;  d,  dentine  or  ivory;  e, 
enamel ;  c,  cement. 

Fig.  44* 


SECT.  II. — TRACES  OF  SPECIAL  ADAPTATION  IN  THE  NUM- 
BER, FORM,  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  TEETH. 

In  these  organs,  of  so  much  importance  in  the  animal 
economy,  and  of  such  scientific  interest  to  the  zoologist 
and  paleontologist,  we  find  numerous  examples  of  modifi- 
cations in  respect  of  structure,  form,  and  number,  all  for 
the  fulfilling  of  useful  ends. 


216  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION 

Remarkable  complex  modifications  occur  when  the 
substances  of  which  the  teeth  consist,  instead  of  being 
simply  superposed,  and  shewing  a  comparatively  regular 
surface,  present  infoldings  of  the  surface,  and  consequent 
interblending  or  apparent  mixture  of  the  dentine,  enamel, 
and  cement.  It  is  obvious  that  in  all  cases  in  which 
there  is  interblending  of  parts  differing  in  hardness,  by 
whatever  means  effected,  a  rough  surface  is  kept  up  by 
their  being  unequally  worn  away ;  a  most  admirable, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  simple  contrivance  for  forming  an 
effectual  triturating  surface,  on  the  same  principle  that  a 
millstone  must  be  rough  in  order  to  perform  its  office 
fully. 

There  are  numerous  and  remarkable  special  modifica- 
tions of  teeth,  all  of  which  are  so  obviously  in  harmony 
with  the  particular  purpose  they  are  intended  to  serve, 
that  no  one  disputes  the  propriety  of  adducing  such  in 
illustration  of  final  cause.  These  have  been  discussed 
with  considerable  fulness  by  different  writers  on  natural 
theology,  and  it  is  less  necessary  to  enter  into  details 
here  ;  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  examples  may  suffice, 
and  we  must  here  acknowledge  the  valuable  contribution 
to  this  department  of  the  history  of  the  teeth  embodied 
in  the  treatise  of  the  Hunterian  Professor.* 

Among  bats  we  find  three  varieties  in  the  kind  of 
food ;  some  subsist  on  insects  which  they  capture  during 
flight ;  others  feed  on  soft  vegetable  food,  such  as  fruits ; 
and  a  few  suck  the  blood  of  animals,  whose  skin  they 
puncture  during  sleep.  The  insectivorous  bats  have  all 
the  teeth  characterized  by  the  presence  of  numerous 
sharp  conical  points  well  fitted  for  capturing  and  retain- 
ing their  living  prey.  In  frugivorous  species  the  molars 
are  well  developed,  and  are  suited  by  their  blunt  tuber- 

*  Owen's  Odontography. 


IN  THE  NUMBER.  FORM,  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  TEETH.    217 

cular  crowns  to  reduce  the  vegetable  matter  to  the  state 
of  pulp.  In  true  bloodsucking  species,  the  vampyres,  the 
upper  incisor  teeth,  and  canines,  are  well  fitted  to  punc- 
ture the  skin,  while  the  molars  are  deficient  in  number, 
the  blood  on  which  they  feed  requiring  no  trituration. 

The  Eodentia,  or   gnawing   animals,  (rat,  hare,  &c.,) 
present  a  peculiar    arrangement  (one   of  their   leading 
characters)  in  the  front  or  incisor  teeth,  which  are  in 
continual  requisition  for  gnawing  or  cutting  hard  vege- 
table matter.     The  front  part  of  the  incisors,  and  it  only 
has  a  thick  layer  of  enamel,  the  consequence  of  which 
arrangement  is,  that  the  softer  dentine  behind  being  con- 
tinually worn  away,  a  sharp  chisel-shaped  edge  is  always 
kept  up.    But  since  both,  though  thus  unequally,  are  also 
liable  to  wear  away,  an  arrangement  is  added  in  no  less 
beautiful  harmony  with  instinct  and  habits  ;  the  teeth 
are  continually  growing  from  the  base   during  the  life- 
time  of  the   animal.      The  modifications  of  the  molar 
teeth  are  not  less  remarkable  ;  in  all  of  them  we  find  pe- 
culiar interblending  of  the  cement,  enamel,  and  dentine, 
so  that  a  rough  surface  is  secured  by  unequal  abrasion. 
Still  farther  their  mode  of  implantation  has  direct  rela- 
tion to  differences  in  the  kind  of  food  which  the  animal 
is  led  to  seek  and  is  able  to  digest.     The  rats  which  sub- 
sist on  mixed  food,  are  less  liable  to  the  general  wearing 
of  the  molars,  "  and  no  more  dental  matter  is  produced 
than  is  necessary  for  the  firm  implantation  of  the  tooth 
in  the  jaw."*     Those  Eodentia  which  feed  on  hard  vege- 
table substances  have  molars  which  are  liable  to  continual 
abrasion,  but  which  are  also  continually  growing  at  the 
base  during  most  of  the  animal's  life ;  in  some,  as  in  the 
Capybara,  this  renewal  of  the  molars  continues  during 
the  whole  life.     Professor  Owen  describes  an  additional 

*  Owen's  Odontography,  p,  401. 
10 


218  TRACES    OF    SPECIAL   ADAPTATION 

arrangement  in  these  permanently-growing  molars,  "  they 
are  curved,  and  the  pressure  during  mastication  is  thus 
not  directly  transmitted  to  the  formative  pulp."* 

In  carnivorous  animals,  certain  teeth  are  admirably 
fitted  for  seizing,  holding,  and  destroying  the  living  prey, 
and  others  for  dividing  it  afterwards.  The  incisors  are 
of  the  typical  number,  and  therefore  more  numerous  than 
in  many  other  mammalia,  and  they  often  present  a  tran- 
sition in  general  form  towards  the  canines.  These  latter 
are  large,  sharply  conical,  and  of  great  strength.  Some 
of  the  molar  teeth  present  remarkable  modifications. 
The  fourth  premolar  in  the  upper,  and  the  first  molar  in 
the  lower  jaw,  are  large  and  sharp-edged,  so  that  when 
they  are  moved  in  opposition  to  each  other,  they  cut  like 
the  blades  of  scissors  ;  their  function  is  sectorial,  and 
they  are  admirably  fitted  to  divide  flesh.  The  concur- 
rence of  independent  circumstances  is  seen  in  this,  that 
the  instincts  of  these  animals  lead  them  to  eat  flesh,  the 
teeth  are  exactly  suited  to  such  food,  their  stomach  is 
able  to  digest  it,  and  the  structure  of  their  limbs  enables 
them  to  seize  and  hold  it.  The  hya3na  obtains  its  food 
from  the  harder  parts  left  by  other  carnivora,  the  bones 
of  animals  forming  its  chief  sustenance  ;  and  the  teeth  are 
modified  in  harmony  with  its  habits,  presenting  a  re- 
markable deviation  from  the  usual  typical  form  in  the 
carnivorous  division  to  which  the  animal  belongs.  Cer- 
tain of  the  premolars  in  upper  and  lower  jaws  are  large 
and  conical,  and  have  at  the  base,  near  the  line  of  the 
gum,  a  thick  belt  or  ridge,  which  serves  to  protect  that 
part  during  the  process  of  crushing  the  hard  bones. 
Professor  Owen  states  that  such  a  tooth,  when  shewn  to 
an  experienced  engineer,  was  declared  by  him  to  be  a  per- 
fect model  of  a  hammer  for  stone-breaking. 

*  Owen's  Odontography,  p.  402. 


IN  THE  NUMBER,  FORM,  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  TEETH.   219 

In  true  vegetable-feeding,  hoofed  mammalia,  we  find 
remarkable  interblending  of  dentine,  enamel,  and  cement, 
in  the  molars,  the  proportions  of  each  in  different  cases 
varying,  as  well  as  the  pattern  presented  by  the  crown  of 
the  teeth.  A  general  idea  of  such  arrangement,  and  of 
its  consequences,  (roughness  of  surface,)  may  be  obtained 
by  inspection  of  the  old  molar  teeth  of  an  ox  or  sheep.  In 
such  animals  also,  owing  to  the  peculiar  mechanism  of 
the  joint  of  the  lower  jaw,  there  is  very  free  motion  in 
various  directions,  and  thus  the  whole  triturating  surface 
of  the  teeth,  so  well  adapted  to  their  function,  is  readily 
available. 

In  the  elephant,  several  curious  modifications  may  be 
observed  in  the  large  molar  teeth.  Each  is  composed  of 
a  number  of  connected  plates,  having  the  usual  arrange- 
*  ment  of  dentine,  enamel,  and  cement  substances,  the  latter 
being  at  first  the  binding  material  by  which  the  plates 
are  tied  together.  "  The  formation  of  each  grinder  be- 
gins with  the  summit  of  the  anterior  plate,  and  the  rest 
are  completed  in  succession  ;  the  tooth  is  gradually  ad- 
vanced in  position  as  its  growth  proceeds,  and  in  the 
existing  Indian  elephant,  the  anterior  plates  are  brought 
into  use  before  the  posterior  are  formed."*  In  all  ele- 
phants, the  molars  succeed  each  other  from  behind  for- 
wards, moving  in  a  curve,  the  young  growing  tooth  being 
nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  one  already  in  use.  Pro- 
fessor Owen's  statement  is  so  much  to  the  point  that  we 
shall  quote  it  entire,  "The  jaw  is  not  encumbered  with 
the  whole  weight  of  the  massive  tooth  at  once,  but  it  is 
formed  by  degrees  as  wanted  ;  the  subdivision  of  the 
crown  into  a  number  of  successive  plates,  and  of  these 
into  subcylindrical  processes,  presenting  the  conditions 
most  favourable  to  progressive  formation.     Subdivision 

*  Cyclopedia  of  Anatomy  Art.  Teeth. 


220  TRACES   OF    SPECIAL   ADAPTATION 

of  the  tooth  gives  another  advantage,  each  part,  like  a 
simple  tooth,  has  dentine,  enamel,  and  cement.  The  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  tooth,  as  they  come  forwards,  have,  of 
course,  from  differences  of  attrition,  different  kinds  of 
surface,  the  anterior  portion  for  crushing  branches,  the 
middle,  with  its  transverse  ridges,  for  reducing  these  to 
smaller  fragments,  and  the  posterior  tubercles  of  enamel 
grind  it  to  a  pulp." 

Such  special  modifications  of  masticating  organs, 
according  to  the  gnawing,  flesh-eating,  or  vegetable- 
grinding  habits  in  different  animals,  are  sufficiently  ob- 
vious, but  not  more  so  than  the  peculiarities  of  organs 
fitted  for  mixed  food,  as  in  human  beings.  In  his 
dentition,  man  presents  a  character  intermediate  be- 
tween the  carnivorous  and  the  herbivorous  type  ;  "  the 
presence  of  canines,  and  the  absence  of  complex  struc- 
ture, arising  from  interblending  of  vertical  plates  of  the 
different  dentinal  tissues  in  the  molars,  would  prove  that 
the  food  could  not  have  been  the  coarse,  uncooked  vege- 
table substances  for  which  complex  molars  are  adapted  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  feeble  development  of  the 
canines,  and  the  absence  of  molars  of  the  sectorial  shape, 
and  opposed  like  scissors'  blades,  would  equally  shew  that 
the  species  had  been  unfitted  for  obtaining  habitual  sus- 
tenance from  the  raw,  quivering  fibre  of  recently  killed 
animals."*  How  evident,  therefore,  the  relation  between 
the  kind  of  food  which  man  naturally  makes  choice  of, 
and  the  organs  which  bruise  and  prepare  it  for  the  act  of 
digestion  in  the  stomach  ;  there  is  assuredly  no  mere  ac- 
cidental coincidence  in  all  these  arrangements. 

The  Ophidia,  (or  serpent  order,)  as  has  been  already 
stated,  take  in  their  prey  entire,  and  their  teeth  are  gene- 
rally simply  conical,  and  fitted  for  retention.     The  poison 

*  Owen's  Odontography,  p.  471. 


IN  THE  NUMBER,  FORM,  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  TEETH.    221 

fangs  of  certain  species  are  particularly  worthy  of  notice, 
and  certain  non-venomous  species  are  instructive  as  pre- 
senting a  transitional  form.  Some  of  the  teeth  in  the 
upper  jaw,  in  certain  kinds  of  serpents,  present  a  longi- 
tudinal groove  which  serves  to  conduct  an  acrid,  but  not 
deadly  saliva,  into  the  wounds  which  they  inflict.  The 
true  venomous  fang,  such  as  that  of  the  rattlesnake,  is 
just  a  flat  tooth  folded  on  itself,  and  the  edges  united  ; 
the  hollow  or  canal  which  traverses  it  is  in  communica- 
tion with  the. poison-gland  at  its  base,  the  muscles  cover- 
ing which  being  in  powerful  action  during  attack,  com- 
press the  gland,  and  squeeze  its  deadly  contents  into  the 
wound  inflicted  by  the  fang.  When  not  in  use,  these 
formidable  weapons  are  retracted  and  concealed  in  a  fold 
of  the  gum,  with  their  points  directed  backwards  ;  the 
relation  of  tooth,  jaw,  and  other  parts,  is  sufficient  to  un- 
cover the  recumbent  fang,  and  bring  it  into  use  when  re- 
quired. 

In  fishes,  special  adjustments  are  as  numerous  and 
remarkable  as  in  higher  vertebrata.  Those  that  feed  on 
worms,  and  similar  soft  food,  have  teeth  which  are  simply 
conical,  and  differing  in  number  and  size  according  to 
the  minor  modifications  of  habit  ;  the  barbel  and  others 
present  such  a  form  of  dental  apparatus,  well  fitted  for 
simple  capture  and  retention  of  the  food.  The  wolf-fish, 
again,  has  a  dental  furniture  suited  for  bruising  the 
shells  of  the  mollusca  on  which  it  feeds  ;  the  thin  mem- 
branous stomach  of  that  species  shews  that  the  pavement 
of  bruising  teeth,  with  which  its  mouth  is  lined,  serves 
for  the  effectual  comminution  of  its  prey,  rendering  the 
presence  of  a  gizzard  unnecessary.  The  fishes  which  feed 
on  the  coral-building  animals  have  parrot-like  jaws  in 
front,  for  breaking  off  the  calcareous  polypidoms,  and  on 
the  pharyngeal  bones  behind,  an  apparatus  to  crush  and 


222         TRACES   OF    SPECIAL    ADAPTATION   IN    TEETH. 

prepare  for  digestion  in  the  stomach.  The  pharyngeal 
teeth  of  the  wrasse  are  each  in  the  form  of  an  arch  of 
greath  strength,  admirably  fitted  for  the  process  of  crush- 
ing, "if  the  engineer  would  study  the  model  of  a  dome 
of  unusual  strength,  and  so  supported  as  to  relieve  from 
its  pressure  the  floor  of  a  vaulted  chamber  beneath,  let 
him  make  a  vertical  section  of  one  of  the  crushing  pha- 
ryngeal teeth  of  a  wrasse."*  In  the  carnivorous  Sphyr- 
aena,  whose  teeth  are  liable  to  injury  during  efforts  to 
secure  its  living  prey,  these  formidable  organs  are  conti- 
nually replaced,  the  alternate  teeth  being  shed  cotempo- 
raneously,  by  which  provision  is  made  for  having  a  series 
of  offensive  weapons  always  ready  for  use. 

The  position  of  teeth,  also,  in  this  class,  is  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  habits  and  general  organization. 
Those  of  flat  fishes  (flounders,  &c.)  are  unequally  distri- 
buted, being  most  numerous  on  the  side  next  the  under 
surface  of  the  animal ;  in  other  words  that  side  of  the 
jaws  next  the  ground,  (in  the  usual  position  of  such 
fishes,)  being  the  one  nearest  their  food,  which  is  under 
them. 

It  appears,  then,  that  in  these  instruments,  as  in  every 
other  part  of  the  animal  frame,  while  a  general  plan  sub- 
ordinates the  whole,  there  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  vast 
number  and  variety  of  modifications,  each  in  beautiful 
harmony  with  the  instincts  and  habits  of  the  animal,  with 
all  its  organs,  and  with  the  place  and  part  assigned  to  i» 
by  its  great  Author. 

*  Owen's  Odontography,  p.  788. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MOLLUSCA. 
SECT.    I. TYPICAL   FORMS    OF    MOLLUSCA. 

We  have,  in  the  preceding  pages,  been  directing  atten- 
tion to  animals  possessed  of  an  internal  skeleton  formed 
of  parts  constructed  according  to  a  common  plan.  We 
pass  to  the  examination  of  others  generally  characterized 
by  the  absence  of  such  a  framework,  but  often  present- 
ing hard  parts  on  the  outside,  constituting  exoskeleton. 

It  is  admitted  that  there  are  three  types  of  inverte- 
brata  :  the  molluscan,  as  the  oyster,  etc.  ;  the  articulate, 
such  as  insects  and  crabs  ;  and  the  radiate,  comprehend- 
ing the  star-fishes,  etc. 

Although  much  remains  to  be  done  in  reducing  these 
departments  of  the  animal  kingdom  to  the  same  philo- 
sophical order  which  the  department  of  the  vertebrata 
has  attained,  we  shall  find  no  lack  of  examples  for  illus- 
trating the  argument,  some  of  the  more  obvious  and 
prominent  of  which  may  now  be  examined.  We  begin 
with  mollusca. 

The  investigations  of  observers  on  the  Continent  and 
in  our  own  country,  have  demonstrated  that  in  the  ear- 
lier periods  of  life,  the  mollusca  present  symmetry  of 
parts  in  reference  to  a  vertical  and  longitudinal  plane. 
An  examination  of  the  history  of  development  in  the 


224 


TYPICAL    FORMS 


mollusc  has  shown  that  in  early  life  there  is  a  short  com- 
pressed body,  destitute  of  any  lateral  appendages,  and 
presenting  no  repetition  of  segments. 

In  the  skeleton  of  the  vertebrata,  it  is  necessary  to  ob- 
serve the  relations  of  its  parts  to  the  neural  and  hamial 
organs,  which  are  protected  by  it.  The  superior  and  in- 
ferior region  of  the  molluscan  animal  must  also  be  deter- 
mined in  order  that  the  relations  of  parts  in  the  arche- 
type may  be  understood. 

In  vertebrata,  the  dorsal  or  superior  aspect  of  the  body 
corresponds  to  the  position  of  the  central  mass  of  the 
nervous  system,  the  haemal  being  inferior.  There  is 
some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  relations  of  the  parts 
in  the  mollusca.*  Adopting  the  view  that  the  neural 
side  is  also  the  lower  or  ventral,  and  the  liEemal  the 


Fig.  45.  t 

superior,  we  proceed  to  examine  the  archetype,  our  mate- 
rials being  chiefly  drawn  from  the  admirable  treatise  of 
Professor  Huxley  on  this  subject.']; 

*  Professor  Allman  on  the  Homologies  of  the  Tunieata  and  Polyzoa.  Transactions 
Koyal  Irish  Academy,  1852. 

t  Fio.  45.  Ideal  archetype,  or  common  plan  of  tho  mollusca.  m,  the  mouth ;  a,  the 
anal  aperture,  or  extremity  of  the  intestine;  II,  h  inial  region;  A,  tho  heart;  b,  branch! e 
or  gills;  N,  neural  region;  n,  n,  n,  ganglia  or  nervous  centres;  ep,  epipodium  or  upper 
foot;  pp,  propodium,  anterior  part  of  foot;  ms,  mesopodium,  middle  part;  nit,  metapo- 
dlum,  posterior  part;  pp,  ms,  and  mt,  together  constitute  the  foot  in  general  language. 

X  Transactions  Royal  Society,  1S53;  see  also  Knight's  English  Cyclop  tdia,  Art. 
Mollusca. 


OF    MOLLUSCA. 


225 


The  archetype  mollusc  is  supposed  to  "be  bilaterally 
symmetrical ;  the  relations  of  the  different  parts  will  be 
understood  from  the  accompanyng  figure.  The  haemal 
region  (H)  corresponds  to  that  where  the  heart  (h)  is 
situated  ;  the  opposite  is  termed  neural,  and  the  great 
nervous  centres  (n  n  n)  are  usually  placed  in  it.  The 
anterior  part  of  the  body  is  marked  by  the  position  of 
the  mouth,  (on,)  the  posterior  by  the  opposite  opening  of 
the  alimentary  canal  or  anus  (a.)  The  lower  or  neural 
surface  is  usually  called  the  foot,  because  generally  em- 
ployed as  an  organ  of  progression.  The  foot  may  be 
divided  into  three  portions,  the  propodium  (pp)  or  fore- 
foot ;  the  mesopodium  (ms)  or  middle  foot ;  and  the 
metapodium  (mt)  or  hind  foot.  The  upper  part  of  the 
foot,  or  middle  region  of  the  body,  sometimes  is  prolonged 
into  a  fold  or  enlargement  on  each  side  below  the  point 
of  junction  of  the  haemal  and  neural  regions  ;  this 
prolongation  is  called  epipodium,  (ep.)  On  the  lateral 
and  superior  part  of  the  head  are  two  pairs  of  appen- 
dages, the  eyes  and  tentacles.  The  part  usually  called 
mantle  or  pallium  in  mollusca,  consists  of  a  free  fold  of 
the  skin  either  behind  or  in  front  of  the  anus.  In  the 
figure  the  branchiae  or  gills  (&)  lie  behind  the  heart,  (h.) 

There  are  two  principal  modi- 
fications of  this  common  plan 
depending  mainly  on  the  relative 
development  of  certain  parts  of 
the  haemal  region.  The  portion 
of  it  in  front  of  the  anus  is  called 
abdomen,  that  behind  it  is  called 
post-abdomen.  Excessive  deve- 
lopment of  the  former,  accompa-  FlG- 46-  * 

*  Fig.  4G.  Neural  modification  of  archetype  mollusc.  The  mouth,  stomach,  and  ali- 
mentary canal  are  shaded.  Here  the  part  of  the  haemal  region  above,  or  in  front  of  the 
canal  opening,  is  highly  developed  ;  the  alimentary  canal  having  a  concavity  toward  the 
ueural  surface 


226         TYPICAL  FORMS  OF  MOLLUSCA. 

nied  by  a  bend  of  the  intestine  into  it,  (the  concave  part 
of  which  is  directed  downwards,  or  towards  the  neural 
surface,)  constitutes  a  neural  flexure.  When  the  post- 
abdomen  becomes  developed  in  the  same  way,  the  open 
part  of  the  intestinal  bend  will  be  directed  towards  the 
hjemal  surface,  giving  rise  to  a  haBmal  flexure. 

Professor  Huxley  considers, 
therefore,  that  there  are  two 
primary  modifications  of  the 
molluscan  archetype,  which 
may  be  termed  the  Neural 
and  Haemal  plans. 
FlG- 4T-  *  The  presence  or  absence  of  a 

shell  is  of  minor  importance,  and  does  not  affect  the  re- 
lations of  the  archetype  ;  all  mollusca,  therefore,  may  be 
referred  to  the  same  common  typical  form. 

The  cuttle-fish,  with  its  formidable  prehensile  arms 
and  beak  ;  the  singular  Clio  ;  the  sluggish  oyster ;  the 
more  active  pecten  or  clam  ;  the  destructive  teredo  or 
ship-worm  ;  those  expert  tunnel-makers  and  borers,  spe- 
cies of  Pholas  and  others  ;  the  slug  and  garden  snail ; 
the  pearl  oyster  ; — in  a  word,  the  almost  endless  forms 
of  this  great  division  of  the  Invertebrate  sub-kingdom, 
may  all  be  considered  as  framed  after  the  same  model, 
and  we  shall  find  that  certain  modifications  of  it  have 
undoubtedly  reference  to  the  habits  and  mode  of  life  of 
the  animals. 


*  Fig.  47.  Hsemal  modifications  of  archetype  mollusc.  Shews  excessive  development 
of  post-abdomen,  the  part  behind  or  below  the  anus.  The  alimentary  canal  has  a  flex- 
ure toward  the  haimal  region ;  in  tho  fig.  the  heart  is  seen  in  the  concavity  of  the  floxcro, 


MODIFICATIONS    OF    THE    AKCHETYPE    MOLLUSC.       227 
SECT.  II. MODIFICATIONS    OF   THE   AKCHETYPE   MOLLUSC. 

Cephalopoda,  or  cuttle-fishes.  These  remarkable  ani- 
mals are  usually  placed  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the 
molluscan  type,  and  they  present  several  interesting 
points  of  structure.  The  appendages,  (whose  position 
has  given  rise  to  the  name  Cephalopoda,  or  head-footed,) 
provided  with  a  greater  or  less  number  of  discs,  each 
acting  as  a  sucker,  enabling  them  to  retain  their  living 
prey  and  resist  its  struggles  ;  their  formidable  beak-like 
jaws,  by  which  they  tear  their  prey  in  pieces  ;  their  bag, 
from  which  they  explode  an  inky  cloud,  under  cover  of 
which  they  escape  from  their  pursuers  ;  their  funnel, 
which  serves  as  a  discharge-pipe  for  water  which  has 
been  in  contact  with  the  gills,  and  which,  by  the  force  of 
its  escape,  assists  in  aquatic  progression  ;  their  highly- 
developed  and  curiously-constructed  eyes — all  give  them 
a  high  degree  of  prominence  in  the  estimation  of  the 
naturalist.  They  are  pre-eminently  the  Felidae  of  the 
ocean  :  lying  in  wait  for  living  prey  ;  lurking  in  secrecy 
to  spring  on  it  ;  feeding  chiefly  in  the  twilight  or  at 
night  ;  while  their  strength  and  rapidity  of  movement 
render  them  formidable  enemies  to  many  of  their  fellow- 
inhabitants  of  the  ocean.  They  are,  moreover,  the  chame- 
leons of  the  deep,  having  the  power  of  rapidly  changing 
the  colour  of  their  skin  as  emergencies  require.  What 
special  modifications  do  they  present,  as  departures  from 
the  model  ?  and  what  relations  do  such  bear  to  the  habits 
of  these  animals  ?  These  are  questions  which  may  be  now 
briefly  examined,  so  far  as  the  results  arrived  at  by  ob- 
servers enable  us  to  speak. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  development  of  all  animals  is 
subject  to  strict  law,  and  the  results  of  inquiries  in  this 
direction  enable  us  to  indicate  the  real  nature  of  parts 


228 


MODIFICATIONS    OF    THE 


whose  homology,  in  reference  to  the  archetype,  may  seem 
difficult  to  solve  in  the  fully  matured  condition. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  the  Cephalopods  are 
so  named  from  the  position  of  certain  organs,  which, 
although  chiefly  employed  for  prehension  and  retention 
of  prey,  are  nevertheless  also  capable  of  being  used  as 
means  of  progression  on  a  hard  surface.  Designations  of 
£>arts  are  not  always  in  strict  accordance  with  their  true 
nature,  but  it  so  happens  in  this  particular  instance,  that 
the  term  Cephalopod  is  homologically  correct,  for  the 
appendages  which  surround  the  fore-part  of  the  animal 
in  reality  correspond  to  the 
lower  surface  or  foot,  being  ac- 
tually lateral  appendages  of  that 
part.  These  •  organs  vary  in 
number  ;  in  some  species  there 
are  eight,  in  others  ten.  In  the 
well-known  Argonaut,  two  of 
the  appendages  are  webbed,  so 
as  to  present  considerable  ex- 
tent of  surface.  These  were 
described  by  Aristotle  as  the 
sails  of  the  animal,  which,  in 
fine  weather,  and  when  floating 
on  the  surface,  it  expanded  and  raised  to  catch  the 
wind — a  description  which,  as  it  is  now  well  known, 
does  not  indicate  the  true  use  of  these  parts  ;  for  their 
function  is  to  form  the  shell,  and  progression  is  accom- 
plished by  the  forcible  ejection  of  water  from  the  funnel, 
the  animal  being  urged  on  its  course  by  the  recoil. 


*  Fig.  48.  Plan  of  cuttle-fish,  to  shew  its  relation  to  the  archetype,  pp,  ms,  mt,  the 
parts  of  the  foot  modified  to  form  the  arms  which  surround  the  head ;  ep,  epipodium 
forming  the  funnel  through  which  water  is  discharged.  The  alimentary  canal  and  heart 
will  be  seen  in  the  middle  of  the  shaded  part  of  this  figure. 


ARCHETYPE    MOLLUSC.  229 

In  those  with  ten  appendages,  two  are  longer  than  the 
others,  and  serve  as  anchors  to  moor  the  body,  or  are 
darted  out  to  capture  prey  beyond  reach  of  the  shorter 
arms. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  functions  assigned  to 
the  funnel ;  this  part,  so  necessary  in  the  economy  of 
the  animal,  may  be  also  referred  to  its  corresponding 
part  in  the  archetype.  It  is  derived  from 'the  epipodium, 
upper  foot,  {Fig.  48.  ep,)  the  posterior  part  only  is  con- 
sidered by  Professor  Huxley  as  contributing  to  the  for- 
mation of  this  important  organ.  "  The  mouth  is  thrust 
back  between  the  halves  of  the  mesopodium,  the  propo- 
dium  and  mesopodium  forming  a  continuous  sheath — 
bearing  tentacles — around  the  oral  aperture.  The  two 
halves  of  the  epip'odium  united  form  the  funnel."* 

Pteropoda. — The  animals  so  denominated  are  gene- 
rally of  small  size,  but  this  is  compensated  for  by  their 
numbers.  In  the  tropics,  as  well  as  in  the  Arctic 
seas,  they  abound,  and,  with  other  marine  invertebrata, 
serve  to  stock  the  pasture-grounds  of  the  great  whales. 
The  peculiar  appendages,  or  lateral  flaps,  from  which 
they  derive  their  name,  {Pteropoda,  wing-footed,)  are 
the  principal  means  of  progression  by  which  they  flit 
hither  and  thither — whence  they  have  been  approjiriately 
called  the  moths  and  butterflies  of  the  ocean.  As  littoral 
productions  they  are  not  generally  known,  excepting 
from  the  shells  of  some  which  are  occasionally  cast  up  ; 
but  in  the  open  sea,  far  from  land,  they  are  sufficiently 
familiar  to  the  observant  navigator. 

In  these  interesting  molluscs,  the  parts  called  fore, 
middle,  and  hind  foot,  are  generally  in  a  rudimentary 
condition,  and  the  epipodium  or  upper  foot  forms  the 
wing-like  appendages  so  necessary  in  the  act  of  progres- 

*  Knight's  English  Cyclopedia,  Art.  Mollmoa. 


230  MODIFICATIONS    OF    THE 

sion,  and  giving  such  a  marked  character  to  these  ani- 
mals. Cleodora,  Euribia,  Clio,  Pneumodermon,  and 
others,  present  each  peculiar  but  minor  modifications  of 
the  epipodium,  doubtless  in  harmony  with  the  habits  of 
the  respective  species,  but,  nevertheless,  essentially  of  the 
same  nature,  and  performing  the  same  general  function. 

The  epipodium,  which  is  but  a  narrow  band  in  the 
archetype,  appears,  therefore,  to  attain  its  maximum  of 
development  in  certain  Pteropods,  and  forming  wing-like 
appendages  copiously  traversed  by  strong  muscular  fibres, 
is  admirably  fitted  to  be  employed  as  oars,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  observers  confirms  such  idea  respecting  its  use. 
— There  are  other  mollusca  not  far  removed  in  appearance 
from  those  just  described,  which  also  deserve  to  be  no- 
ticed here  as  examples  illustrative  of  the  argument.  They 
have  been  called  Heteropoda.  Like  the  Pteropoda,  they 
are  constituted  for  free  progression  in  the  water.  The 
relations  of  their  parts  have  been  very  fully  examined  by 
Professor  Huxley  in  the  Essay  already  quoted.  The  body 
in  one  genus,  namely,  Firola,  is  clear  as  crystal,  so  that  all 
its  internal  organs  can  be  distinctly  seen,  and  the  author 
quoted  describes  it  "  as  hardly  distinguishable  in  the 
water,  except  by  the  incessant  napping  of  its  flattened 
ventral  appendage."  The  shape  of  this  organ,  by  which 
the  animal  makes  progression  in  the  water,  is  that  of  a 
cheese-cutter ;  it  is  a  modification  of  the  propodium  or 
fore-foot  of  the  archetype,  the  other  parts  remaining 
rudimentary.  In  another  genus,  viz.,  Atlanta,  progres- 
sion in  the  water  is  accomplished  by  means  of  an  appen- 
dage similar  to  that  of  Firola,  and  a  modification  of  the 
same  part,  thus  remarkably  constituted  to  serve  an  im- 
portant end  in  the  economy  of  the  animal.  But  Atlanta 
has  the  power  of  attaching  itself  to  marine  plants  by 
means  of  a  sucking  disc  placed  behind  the  propodium ; 


ARCHETYPE    MOLLUSC.  231 

this  part  is  the  inesopodium,  which  thus  presents  a  mo- 
dification different  from  that  of  the  propodium,  the  one 
as  well  as  the  other,  however,  "being  admirably  suited  to 
its  function.  Moreover,  the  metapodium,  or  tail,  as  it  is 
sometimes  called,  hears  on  its  surface  the  hard  body- 
called  operculum,  which  serves  as  a  lid  to  close  the  mouth 
of  the  shell  when  the  animal  retreats  into  that  appen- 
dage. 

In  Aplysia,  or  sea-hare,  the  epipodium  is  highly  de- 
veloped for  a  special  purpose,  namely,  to  assist  in  loco- 
motion. Professor  Huxley  describes  a  tropical  Aplysia 
as  flying  through  the  water  in  precisely  the  same  way  as 
a  Pteropod  would  do.  In  Natica,  we  observe  the  rneso- 
podium modified,  to  serve  as  a  disc  for  locomotion  by 
creeping  ;  the  metapodium  bearing  the  operculum  or  lid 
which  closes  the  mouth  of  the  shell  when  the  animal 
takes  refuge  in  it. 

Among  Bivalves,  as  they  are  called,  from  the  form  of 
the  protecting  shell,  we  find  numerous  modifications  of 
the  neural  surface  in  evident  relation  to  the  wants  of  the 
animal.  In  the  oyster,  destined  to  sedentary  life,  it  is 
small  ;  in  Solen  or  razor-fish  it  is  large,  constituting  the 
foot,  which  the  animal  employs  as  an  effective  means  of 
burying  itself  in  the  loose  sand.  According  to  the  views 
of  some,  the  same  part  is  actually  so  modified  in  its  form, 
and  in  the  nature  of  its  constituent  tissues,  that  it  may 
be  used  as  an  instrument  for  perforating  wood  and  rock. 
\"Y  hatever  be  the  form  or  function  of  this  necessary  organ 
of  the  bivalve  mollusc,  it  is  supposed  to  correspond  to 
the  metapodium  of  the  archetype. 

Certain  Gasteropodous  mollusca  are,  when  young,  pro- 
tected by  a  shell  resembling  that  of  the  nautilus  in 
miniature.  At  this  stage  they  do  not  possess  the  power 
of  creeping,  but  swim  freely  in  the  water — a  provision 


232      MODIFICATIONS    OF    THE    ARCHETYPE    MOLLUSC. 

which  secures  their  wide  distribution,  and  gives  rise  to 
fresh  colonies  at  a  distance  from  the  parent.  At  this 
early  period  of  life  they  are  provided  with  two  wing-like 
appendages  fringed  with  cilia  ;  these  are  employed  as 
oars,  by  which  they  move  from  place  to  place.  The  ap- 
pendages in  question  are  believed  to  correspond  to  the 
anterior  part  of  the  cpipodium.  This  peculiar  modifica- 
tion is,  however,  only  a  temporary  arrangement  ;  a  time 
arrives  when  it  is  no  longer  needed  ;  it  then  disappears, 
and  the  adult  animal  accomplishes  progression  on  hard 
surfaces  by  means  of  the  foot  proper.  The  ciliated  epi- 
podium  is  provided  for  a  temporary  purpose,  and  when 
that  is  accomplished  it  disappears,  to  be  superseded  by 
another  part. 

It  is  therefore  admitted,  that  all  mollusca  present 
traces  of  a  common  plan  ;  and  although  in  every  instance 
it  may  not  be  possible  to  indicate  with  clearness  and  pre- 
cision the  special  ends  of  the  many  modifications  of  the 
archetype,  still,  arguing  from  what  we  do  know,  it  is  not 
unreasonable  to  conclude  that  we  have  here  independent 
members  in  harmony  with  each  other,  and  conspiring  to 
promote  the  wellbeing  of  the  animal  in  its  destined 
sphere  of  life. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ARTICTJLATA. 
SECT.  I. HOMOTYPAL   RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES. 

We  now  pass  to  the  Articulate  type  of  the  Inverte- 
brata,  comprehending  crabs,  barnacles,  insects,  spiders, 
and  others.*  These  agree  in  one  obvious  character — 
their  body  consists  of  a  series  of  similar  or  homotypal 
rings,  which  present  almost  endless  variety  in  size,  form, 
and  other  particulars,  according  to  the  habits  of  the  spe- 
cies. The  rings  are  generally,  in  the  higher  kinds  at 
least,  of  more  or  less  hard  texture,  giving  support  to 
appendages,  and  serving  as  points  of  attachment  to  nu- 
merous muscles,  as  well  as  protecting  various  important 
organs  concerned  in  the  function  of  sensation,  motion, 
circulation,  &c.  They  present  us  with  examples  of  a 
highly-developed  outside  covering,  technically  called  exo- 
skeleton,  the  character  of  which  varies  as  there  is  neces- 
sity in  different  parts,  for  variety  of  motion,  for  solidity, 
or  for  simple  protection. 

The  endless  diversity  in  form,  and  the  exquisite  beauty 
of  colour  and  sculpture,  exhibited  by  certain  of  the  Arti- 
culata,  have  rendered  them  favourite  objects  of  study, 
and  their  history  has  been  in  general  very  thoroughly 

*  It  is  not  our  intention  to  discuss  here  all  the  classes  of  the  Articulate  type  ;  a  selec 
tion  will  suffice  for  our  purpose. 


234  HOMOTYPAL   KINGS 

investigated  by  observers  in  different  countries.  The 
fertile  results  which  have  accrued  from  such  inquiries  pre- 
sent admirable  examples  of  what  may  be  expected  from 
the  patient  labours  of  ardent  naturalists,  guided  by  care- 
ful attention  to  philosophical  methods  of  investigation. 

We  have  stated  that  all  the  pieces  in  the  linear  series 
of  which  an  articulate  animal  is  made  up,  are  homotypal, 
that  is,  constructed  on  the  same  plan.  This  unity  of 
composition  is  not  necessarily  coincident  with  any  law  of 
number,  viewing  the  Articulata  as  a  whole  ;  but  in  the 
higher  types,  at  least,  the  number  of  similar  pieces  of 
which  the  body  consists  is  usually  uniform. 

We  may  here  introduce  the  general  law  announced  by 
M.  Aucloin,  in  1820,  that  the  similarity  or  difference  be- 
tween the  segments,  the  union  or  the  separation  of  the 
pieces  of  which  they  consist,  the  excessive  development 
of  some  and  the  rudimentary  conditions  of  others,  occasion 
all  those  differences  observed  in  the  entire  series  of  arti- 
culated animals.  It  is  well  established  that  a  common 
type  determines  the  general  organization  of  the  animals 
in  question,  and  we  may  now  examine  the  structure  of 
the  typical  ring  or  segment. 

Milne  Edwards,  in  his  history  of  the  Crustacea,  has 
demonstrated  very  clearly  the 
composition  of  this  part.  It 
may  be  described  as  consisting 
of  two  arches,  a  superior  and  an 
inferior.  The  former  consists  of 
four  pieces,  arranged  in  pairs  on 
each  side  of  the  middle  line. 
FlG- 49*  The  two  upper,  occupying  a  po- 

sition on  each  side  of  this  middle  line,  are  called  tergal, 


*  Fig.  49.  Plan  of  ring  of  Articulate  animal,    t,  tergals  ;  ep,  epiuieialis;  s,  sternals;  ei 
episternals. 


AND    APPENDAGES.  235 

because  forming  the  back,  (from  tergum,  back  ;)  those 
on  each  side  are  called  epimerals,  or  flank  pieces.  The 
lower  arch  has  similar  composition  :  the  middle  pieces 
are  called  sternal,  because  corresponding  in  position  to 
the  breast-bone  (sternum)  in  Vertebrata  ;  the  lateral 
pieces  are  called  episternals.  Instead  of  the  technical 
terms  epimeral  and  episternal,  we  may  use  the  terms 
upper  and  lower  flanks.  In  all  this  we  find  some  resem- 
blance to  the  neural  and  haemal  arches  in  the  vertebrate 
segment,  with  this  difference,  that  the  body  of  the  ver- 
tebra serves  at  once  as  a  foundation  and  line  of  demar- 
cation between  the  two  arches,  each  of  which  is  complete 
and  independent.  The  typical  segment  in  the  Articulata 
may  be  compared  to  a  segment  of  a  tunnel,  not  merely 
arched  in  the  roof,  but  having  also  a  concave  floor.  A 
series  of  such  rings  constitutes  the  external  framework  of 
the  animals  under  discussion,  and  protects  the  nervous 
centres,  which  are  placed  near  to  the  floor,  and  also  the 
hcemal  organs,  which  lie  beneath  the  roof,  and  therefore 
differ  in  their  position  from  that  in  the  Vertebrata. 

The  division  of  the  body,  in  crabs  and  insects,  into 
three  regions — head,  thorax,  and  abdomen,  is  generally 
obvious  enough.  There  may  exist  difference  of  opinion 
regarding  the  number  of  segments  or  rings  entering  into 
the  formation  of  each  of  these,  and  respecting  the  number 
of  pieces  constituting  the  typical  ring  ;  but  it  is  generally 
admitted  as  an  established  truth,  that  the  entire  body  is 
made  up  of  a  number  of  similar  pieces. 

In  Crustacea,  (crabs,  &c.,)  Milne  Edwards  and  others 
believe  each  region  to  be  made  up  of  seven  segments, 
making,  therefore,  twenty-one  in  all.  In  insects,  the 
head  is  supposed  to  consist  of  five,  the  thorax  of  three, 
and  the  abdomen  of  eleven.*     Erichson,  in  his  Entomo- 

*  Newport,  Art.  Insecta,  Cyclopedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 


236  HOMOTYPAL   KINGS 

graphien,  has  demonstrated  that  the  thoracic  portion  of 
the  body  in  crabs,  insects,  and  spiders,  is  made  up  of 
three  segments.*  But,  as  we  have  said,  whatever  differ- 
ence of  opinion  exists  regarding  the  entire  number  in 
any  one  region,  or  in  the  whole  body,  it  is  universally 
admitted  that  a  uniform  plan  regulates  the  construction 
of  the  entire  framework  ;  "  the  different  forms  of  the 
body  are  invariably  the  result,  not  of  the  introduction  of 
new  elements,  but  of  the  greater  or  less  extent  to  which 
the  primary  parts  are  developed."f 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  vertebrata  the  typical  verte- 
bra supports  appendages  ;  so  the  typical  ring  in  the 
articulate  invertebrata  also  gives  attachment  to  lateral 
appendages.  Their  form  and  function  vary  according  to 
the  part  of  the  body  which  supports  them.  They  differ 
also  in  different  species,  and  even  at  various  periods  of 
the  life  of  the  same  individual,  but  they  all  possess  cer- 
tain common  characters. 

M.  Audoin,  long  ago,  demonstrated  that  the  appen- 
dages in  question  belong  either  to  the  upper  or  lower  arch 
of  each  ring  of  the  body,  the  first  constitute  the  wings 
of  insects,  and  the  second  their  legs  ;  the  same  applies 
to  those  of  crabs  and  spiders,  which,  however,  want  the 
upper  appendages.  They  are,  therefore,  arranged  in 
pairs  on  either  side  of  the  middle  line,  and  each  ring 
supports  either  two  or  four  such  appendages.  Those  of 
the  inferior  arch  are  the  more  important,  and  are  of  more 
universal  occurrence  than  the  others. 

In  Crustacea  the  complete  appendage  is  constituted  by 
three  distinct  portions,  which  it  will  be  necessary  briefly 

*  In  Dana*s  Crustacea  of  the  U.  8.  Exploring  Expedition,  there  are  some  peculiar  and 
Important  views  as  to  the  organization  of  the  different  groups,  and  the  number  of  ring* 
in  the  different  regions  (head,  &c.,)  of  the  body;  as  well  as  the  mean  normal  length  of 
lings.    It  is,  however,  unnecessary  for  our  purpose  to  discuss  the  subject. 

t  Newport,  iu  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology, 


AND   APPENDAGES. 


237 


to  describe.  The  first  and  most  essential  of  these  is  the 
stem,  which  gives  support  to  the  other  two  ;  it  is  formed 
of  a  number  of  pieces  attached  in 
linear  series.  The  second  part  is 
called  palp,  and  is  generally  attached 
near  the  base  of  the  stem.  The  third 
is  called  by  M.  Edwards  the  fouet, 
or  flabellum ;  it  also  originates  from 
the  stem,  but  at  a  point  more  exter- 
nal than  the  palp.  In  conclusion, 
it  may  be  remarked  that  attention 
to  the  number  of  appendages  in  any 
part  sometimes  affords  a  good  crite- 
rion for  deciding  its  composition, 
where,  owing  to  adhesion  or  other 
circumstances,  the  number  of  rings  may  be  obscured 

Modifications  or  departures  from  the  general  plan  nay 
arise  from  several  causes  ; — as  from  soldering  of  two  or 
more  of  the  elementary  pieces  ;  from  confused  develop- 
ment of  parts  whose  presence  may  be  indicated  by  the 
existence  of  special  centres  during  the  process  of  harden- 
ing ;  from  wasting  of  one  or  more  of  the  elements  of  the 
typical  segment  ;  the  abortion  of  certain  parts  of  the 
same  ;  unequal  development  ;  overlapping  of  neighbour- 
ing parts  ;  disappearance  of  typical  parts  ;  and,  lastly, 
from  multiplication  by  repetition  of  similar  parts.f 


Fig.  50* 


SECT.  II. SPECIAL   MODIFICATIONS  OF  RINGS  AND  APPENDAGES. 

Crustacea. — In  the  higher  forms,  usually  called  Deca- 
pods, (ten-footed,)  from  the  number  of  their  chief  loco- 


*  Fig.  50.  Appendages  of  Crustacean,  showing  its  essential  parts;  rt,  stem;  J>,  palp ; 
c,  flabellum. 
t  M.  Edwards,  Annals  des  Sciences  Naturelles,  1851 


238  SPECIAL   MODIFICATIONS 

motive  members,  we  observe  three  principal  modifications 
in  the  general  form  of  the  body.  First,  there  is  the  Bra- 
chyura  or  short-tailed  crabs,  (as  the  common  crab,)  in 
which  the  abdominal  part  of  the  body  is  of  small  size, 
and  usually  folded  beneath  the  thorax,  (so  called,)  which 
part  is  generally  very  highly  developed.  The  second 
form  comprehends  the  Anomoura,  in  which  the  abdomi- 
nal portion  of  the  body  is  soft  and  defenceless,  as  in  the 
hermit  crabs.  Under  the  third  head  are  included  all 
those  called  Macroura,  (long-tailed,)  the  posterior  extre- 
mity of  the  body  being  well-developed  ;  the  lobster  may 
be  cited  as  an  example.  Details  regarding  the  real  na- 
ture of  the  departures  from  the  archetype  in  each  of  these 
three  forms  are  unnecessary  for  our  purpose  ;  it  is  enough 
to  say  that  in  every  case,  the  structure,  habits,  and  in- 
stincts of  the  animals  are  all  in  beautiful  harmony  with 
each  other. 

Where,  as  in  the  first  of  these,  the  thorax  is  well 
developed,  and  usually  of  great  strength,  the  ambulatory 
appendages,  in  five  pairs,  are  generally  of  large  size,  and 
constitute  very  efficient  organs  for  progression  as  well  as 
other  purposes.  The  great  strength  of  the  general  frame- 
work i3  in  admirable  harmony  with  its  function  as  a 
supporter  of  the  powerful  limbs,  and  the  protector  of 
important  internal  organs.  But,  since  the  relations  of 
the  segments,  and  of  the  appendages  which  they  support, 
are  so  intimate,  the  special  modifications  and  functions 
of  each  are  best  studied  in  conjunction. 

The  tabular  view  which  we  here  submit,  of  some  of  the 
segments  and  their  appendages,  will  afford  an  idea  of  the 
deviations  from  the  common  plan  which  occur  in  different 
parts  of  the  body  of  the  same  individual,  and  shew  how 
each  deviation  has  reference  to  some  peculiar  function  of 
the  part.     There  is  an  absence  of  the  centralization  and 


6f  rings  and  appendages.  239 

specialization  which  characterize  animals  higher  in  the 
scale  ;  all  the  segments  and  their  appendages  together 
constitute  the  individual,  and  each  performs  its  respec- 
tive function  in  order  4o  contribute  to  the  wellbeing  of 
the  whole.  The  following  table  represents  the  general 
arrangement  of  most  of  the  rings  and  appendages  in  one 
of  the  higher  Crustacea,  a  lobster,  for  example  : — ■ 


Rings. 
1 
2 
3 

Appendages. 
Eyes. 
1st,  pair  of  Antennae, 
2d,       do.           do. 

Functions. 
Vision. 

■  Touch,  &c.* 

4 

Mandibles. 

* 

5 

1st,  Maxillae, 

6 

2d,         do. 

Capture  and  division  of 

7 

1st,  Feet-jaws, 

food,  &c. 

8 

2d,         do. 

9 

3c?,         do. 

0 
11,  12,  13, 

14 

Limbs, 
do. 

■  For  progression. 

Then  follow  appendages  of  abdominal  rings,  varying  in  use. 

The  individual  is  thus  made  up  of  a  number  of  organs, 
each  of  which  fulfils  a  special  office  ;  by  this  division  of 
labour  each  most  effectively  performs  its  part  in  the 
general  economy,  and  the  wellbeing  of  the  whole  is 
amply  provided  for. 

The  typical  appendages  of  the  first  and  second  rings 
are  modified  for  the  purposes  of  vision,  touch,  hearing, 
&c.  ;  then  follow  organs  surrounding  the  mouth,  and 
which  are  employed  by  the  animal  when  food  is  required  : 
the  ihibellum  of  the  second  pair  of  foot-jaws  assists  in  respi- 
ration ;  the  thoracic  appendages  are  limbs  fur  locomotion, 
and  sometimes  for  prehension  ;  those  of  the  abdomen  are 
either  for  locomotion  or  respiration,  or  are  concerned  in 
the  function  of  reproduction.     It  is  to  be  observed  that 

*  One  or  both  of  these  are  now  believed  to  perform  the  function  of  smelling. 


240  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

each  appendage  presents  special  modifications  not  only 
in  its  general  form,  but  also  in  the  number  of  the  ele- 
ments of  which  it  consists,  but  in  every  instance  the 
departure  from  the  typical  apj)endage  has  a  decided  rela- 
tion to  its  use  and  the  comfort  of  the  animal. 

In  Crustacea  of  lower  organization,  the  king-crab,  for 
example,  the  appendages  of  the  head  and  thorax  closely 
surround  the  mouth ;  they  are  nearly  all  of  the  same 
form,  and  act  not  only  as  limbs  for  motion,  but  also  as 
instruments  for  the  capture  of  the  food,  and  farther,  their 
bases  act  as  jaws  for  dividing  that  food. 

The  mandibles  corresj3ond  to  the  stem  of  the  typical 
appendage,  strengthened  and  usually  toothed.  In  Che- 
lura  terebrans,  whose  habits  of  boring  render  it  so 
destructive  to  wooden  piles,  the  jaws  present  a  file-like 
surface,  admirably  fitted  to  reduce  to  powder  any  such 
structure. 

Generally  speaking,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  ap- 
pendages of  the  fourth  to  the  ninth  segments  inclusive 
have  forms  and  dimensions  varying  in  harmony  with 
their  uses.  In  the  words  of  M.  Edwards,  "  they  are  so 
much  the  shorter  and  flatter  as  they  are  more  peculiarly 
apportioned  to  the  oral  apparatus,  a  disposition  which  is 
nowhere  more  conspicuously  displayed  than  among  the 
short-tailed  Decapods,  (common  crab,  for  instance,)  in 
whicli  they  resemble  horny  laminee,  armed  with  teeth  of 
various  sizes,  and  supporting  a  jointed  palp  as  well  as  a 
flabellum."* 

In  the  thoracic  portion  of  the  body,  some  of  the  more 
anterior  appendages  or  limbs  are,  in  the  higher  Crustacea,  of 
large  size  and  peculiar  organization,  constituting  the  pin- 
cers, which  are  very  formidable  instruments  for  offence  and 
defence,  and  are  sometimes  used  for  other  purposes.     One 

*  Cyclopa;dia  of  Anatomy,  Art.  Crustacea. 


OF    KINGS    AND    APPENDAGES. 


241 


of  the  most  striking  examples  of  such  modification  in 
harmony  with  function,  occurs  in  the  large  land-crab 
(Birgus  Latro)  of  the  Keeling  Islands.  We  shall  quote 
the  description  given  by  Mr.  Darwin  : — "  The  first  pair  of 
legs  end  in  strong  and  heavy  pincers,  the  last  pair  are 
fitted  with  weaker  and  narrower.  The  animal  tears  off 
the  cocoa-nut  husk,  fibre  by  fibre,  and  always  from  that 
end  under  which  the  three  eye-holes  are  situated  ;  when 
this  is  completed,  the  crab  commences  hammering  with 
its  heavy  claws  on  one  of  the  eye-holes  till  an  opening  is 
made,  then,  turning  round  its  body  by  the  aid  of  its  pos- 
terior and  narrow  pincers,  it  extracts  the  contents — a 
curious  instance  of  instinct  and  adaptation  of  structure 
between  two  objects  so  remote  from  each  other  as  a  crab 
and  a  cocoa-nut.  The  strength  of  the  fore-pincers  is 
great :  an  individual  was  confined  in  a  tin  box,  the  lid 
secured  with  twine,  but  the  crab  turned  down  the  edges 
and  escaped  ;  it  actually  punched  many  small  holes  quite 
through  the  tin."* 

In  the  species  of  Portunus  of  our  own  seas,  the  last 
joint  of  some  of  the  thoracic 
members  is  flattened,  and  the 
limb  serves  as  a  paddle  for 
swimming,  or  is  used  by  the 
animal  as  a  means  of  scut- 
tling itself  in  soft  sand. 

In     many    Crustacea,     cer- 
tain appendages   are   modified 
to  serve  as   apparatus   for   re- 
spiration,   acting,    in   fact,    as  fig.  en 
branchiae    or    gills.      Those    called    Branchiopods    (gill- 


*  Darwin,  Journal  of  a  Naturalist,  p.  463. 

t  Fio.  51.  Transformation  of  appendage  of  abdomen  in  a  Branchiopodous  (gill-footed) 
Crustacean,     b,  fiabellum ;  c,  palp,  which  act  as  respiratory  organs. 


242 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


footed)  receive  their  name  from  this  peculiarity ;  the 
whole  of  the  thoracic  appendages  are  in  the  form  of 
lamellas,  and  the  parts  corresponding  to  palp  and  fla- 
bellum  are  membranous  vesicles  highly  vascular,  and 
fitted  to  expose  the  circulating  fluid  to  the  action  of  the 
air  contained  -in  the  surrounding  water. 

Tn  certain  others,  the  Amphipocls,  for  example,  localiza- 
tion of  function 
is  more  com- 
plete, the  fiabel- 
lum  alone  acting- 
as  a  gill.  In 
those  called  Iso- 
pods,  the  mem- 
bers for  loco- 
motion have  no 
other  function 
superadded,  re- 
spiration being  performed  by  the  first  five  pairs  of  ab- 
dominal appendages,  which  appear  to  have  no  other  use. 
In  the  lobster,  cray-fish  and  others,  in  which  the 
hinder  part  of  the  body  is  well  developed,  certain  of  its 
elements  are  very  specially  fitted  for  the  progression  of 
the  animal  through  the  water.  The  last  ring,  and  the 
appendages  of  the  one  which  precedes  it,  are  specially 
modified  to  form  their  powerful  tail  fin. 

In  the  soft-tailed  hermit  crabs,  which  protect  their 
tender  and  defenceless  abdomen  in  empty  spiral  shells 
of  Mollusca,  certain  appendages  are  modified  to  act  as 
hooks  by  which  the  animal  holds  fast  to  the  inside  of  its 
borrowed  habitation  ;  and  it  is  a  curious  circumstance, 
that  some  of  these  hooks  are  wanting  on  one  side,  since 


Fig.  52* 


*  Fig.  52.  Appendage  of  Amphipodous  Crustacean,  the  flabellum,  c,  alone  serving 
as  a  gill  for  respiration. 


OF    RINGS   AND   APPENDAGES.  243 

they  /rould  be  useless  or  even  an  encumbrance  to  the 
animal,  owing  to  the  curve  of  its  body  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  shell  in  which  it  lives.  The  instincts  of  the 
hermit  crab  lead  it  to  seek  in  an  empty  shell  that  pro- 
tection which  is  wanting  in  the  texture  of  its  own  body. 
The  means  by  which  it  holds  fast  are  also  admirably 
fitted  by  form  and  position,  to  the  exigency  of  the  case. 

Not  a  few  of  the  Crustacea  are  parasites,  that  is,  they 
attach  themselves  to  other  animals,  and  feed  on  their 
juices  ;  those  called  fish-lice  are  examples.  Such  habits 
require  special  peculiarities  of  organization,  and  we  are 
constrained  to  admire  the  wisdom  which  foresaw  and 
provided  for  all  the  necessities  of  these  singular  beings. 
The  mouth  apparatus  in  some  is  fitted  at  once  lor  pier- 
cing and  sucking  the  juices  of  the  foster-parent  ;  and  cer- 
tain of  the  appendages  in  other  species,  corresponding  to 
those  already  alluded  to  under  the  name  of  foot-jaws,  are 
constructed  in  such  a  way  that  they  enable  the  little 
animal  to  keep  fast  hold  of  its  foster-parent. 

In  the  curious  Lerneadee,  whose  grotesque  forms  have 
puzzled  not  a  few  observers,  the  young  are  furnished  with 
a  well-developed  eye,  and  are  provided  with  two  large 
pairs  of  appendages,  which  serve  as  oars.  Their  peculiar 
instincts  lead  them  to  fasten  themselves  to  various  fishes, 
some  selecting  one  part  of  the  fish,  others  a  different  part. 
Some  after  they  become  fixed,  the  eye,  no  longer  of  any 
use,  is  lost,  the  oar-like  appendages  either  disappear,  or 
undergo  a  change  of  form  suited  to  the  new  mode  of  life  ; 
in  a  word,  there  are  several  independent  successional 
arrangements  concurring  to  one  end.  Certain  parts  are 
necessary  to  the  existence  and  comfort  of  the  animal, 
and  such  are  provided,  and  everything  is  in  conformity 
with  the  position  which  it  occupies  in  the  economy  of 
nature. 


244 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


Barnacles. — These  remarkable  animals,  in  some  one 
or  other  of  their  forms,  are  doubtless  familiar  to  our 
readers.  Many  of  them  are  attached,  by  more  or  less 
flexible  stalks,  to  sea-weeds,  to  drift-wood,  even  to  quills 
shed  by  sea-birds,  or  they  adhere  in  countless  multitudes 
to  the  bottoms  of  ships  which  enter  our  harbours  from 
some  warmer  region  ;  so  abundant  are  they,  in  fact,  as 
sometimes  to  impede  the  motion  of  the  vessel  in  the 
water.  Other  kinds  contribute  to  the  formation  of  that 
white  line  which  marks  the  limit  of  high-water  on  our 
rocky  shores,  or  give  a  continuous  covering  to  the  exposed 
parts  of  marine  piles  or  stakes  of  salmon-nets.  Others 
invariably  attach  themselves  to  corals  ;  not  a  few  find  a 
suitable  dwelling-place  in  the  thick  skin  of  whales,  and 


Fig.  53* 

certain  others  in  the  shell  of  the  sea-turtle,  and  some  bury 
themselves  in   sponges.     All  these  curious  animals  are 

*  Fig.  53.  a,  A  Stomapod  Crustacean  of  the  genus  Leucifer.  The  abdominal  portion 
is  not  shaded.    The  shaded  part  corresponds  with  the  next,  b. 

b,  Cirriped,  or  Barnacle— a  mature  individual.  All  the  parts  correspond  to  shaded 
portion  of  a;  the  eyes  and  antenna;,  which  are  distinct  in  early  life,  are  also  represented 
here,  for  the  sake  of  comparison. 


OF    KINGS    AND    APPENDAGES.  245 

constructed  on  the  same  general  plan  as  the  Crustacea  we 
have  been  examining,  and  are,  in  fact,  so  nearly  allied,  that 
naturalists  justly  include  them  in  that  class.     (Fig.  53.) 

The  archetype  has  undergone  remarkable  transforma- 
tions in  the  barnacles,  in  order  to  fit  them — and  how 
admirably  are  they  fitted — to  that  particular  part  which 
the  Creator  has  assigned  them  in  the  economy  of  na- 
ture. 

In  the  earlier  periods  of  their  life,  barnacles  are  free  ; 
that  is,  unattached,  are  possessed  of  efficient  locomotive 
members,  and  furnished  with  organs  of  vision  ;  in  this 
condition  they  very  much  resemble  some  of  the  simpler 
forms  of  Crustacea.  Peculiar  instincts  lead  to  the  choice 
of  a  proper  habitat,  whether  a  floating  body,  or  a  rock, 
a  sponge,  a  whale,  or  a  turtle  ;  how  admirable,  therefore, 
the  harmony  between  the  structure  and  the  instinct ! 
The  voluntary  roving  animal  becomes  fixed  to  some 
object,  and,  after  various  transformations  of  its  organs, 
the  adult  state  is  finally  assumed,  and  the  change  of 
form  is  commensurate  with  that  of  its  mode  of  life.  The 
fixed  state  of  the  full-grown  animal  renders  several  con- 
ditions necessary  to  its  existence  and  comfort.  Having 
no  power  of  movement  from  one  place  to  another,  the 
barnacle  is  incapable  of  voluntarily  avoiding  injury  from 
without.  The  animals  require  means  of  attachment,  a 
shell  for  protection,  and  provision  for  the  supply  of 
their  wants.  All  these  points  have  been  attended  to  in 
their  structure,  and  there  is  remarkable  concurrence  of 
arrangements  tending  to  the  well-being  of  the  entire  or- 
ganism. 

The  masterly  researches  of  Mr.  Darwin,  forming  two 
volumes  recently  published  by  the  Kay  Society,  have 
fully  elucidated  the  remarkable  modifications  of  the 
Crustacean  type  met  with  in  the  animals  under  discus- 


246 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


sion.  Comparison  of  the  following  tabic  with  that  already 
given,  will  show  the  relation  between  a  barnacle  and  a 
crab  : — 

Rings.  Appendages. 

No.  1,  Eyes,  )       ..     ,.  _,_.     _,_  . 

J-  quite  distinct  in  early  stages. 
2  &  3,  Antenna?,  J  l  J       b 

4,  Mandibles. 

5  &  6,  Maxilla;. 

7  &  8,  Generally  coalesce  or  disappear. 

j,  10,  11,  12,  13,  14,        Six  pairs  of  limbs. 

_    ._   ..*  l  form  three  small  abdominal  segments; 

(      the  last  four  are  wanting. 


The  appendages  of  the  third  ring,  or  the  second  pair  of 
antennae,  are  the  primary  means  of  attachment,  the  union 
being  subsequently  consummated 
by  a  cementing  material,  which  at 
first  issues  from  these  appendages, 
and  finally  also,  in  some,  through 
special  openings  in  the  head.  Sucl^ 
then,  is  the  simple  means  by  which 
the  attachment  of  the  barnacle  is 
provided  for.  In  connection  with 
this  part  of  their  history,  allusion 
may  be  made  to  the  habits  of  a 
species  not  uncommon  on  some  of 
our  coasts.  In  Lepas  fascicularis, 
the  cement  is  very  copiously  given 
out,  and  forms  a  vesicular  ball, 
which  acts  as  a  float.  Mr.  Darwin 
Btates  that  sometimes  several  individuals  have  their 
stalks  imbedded  in  the  same  ball,  which  swims  like 
a   cork   on   the   water.     As    this    species   grows   into   a 


Fio.  54.* 


*  Fi«.  54.  Lcpas  fascicularis.  -with  its  stalk  (together  with  three  others,  the  stalks  of 
which  are  alone  seen)  imbedded  in  a  vesicular  ball  ^constituting  a  float)  of  their  otd 
formation,  of  which  a  slice  has  been  cut  off  to  shew  the  internal  structure. 


OF   RINGS   AND   APPENDAGES.  247 

bulky  animal,  we  here  see  a  beautiful  and  unique  con- 
trivance in  the  cement  formed  into  a  vesicular  membra- 
neous mass,  serving  as  a  buoy  to  float  the  individuals, 
which,  when  young  and  light,  were  supported  on 
the  small  objects  to  which  they  originally  had  been 
cemented  in  the  usual  manner.  We  have  seen  a  cluster 
composed  of  at  least  a  dozen  large  specimens,  any  one  of 
which,  without  the  float,  would  have  been  sufficient  to 
sink  the  small  quill-feather  of  a  sea-gull  to  which  they 
were  attached.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  posi- 
tion and  production  of  this  singular  contrivance  depend 
on  modifications  relating  to  certain  appendages  of  the 
body. 

As  regards  means  of  protection,  we  may  quote  Mr. 
Darwin,  who  states,  "In  the  mature  animal,  the  whole 
external  covering,  whether  shell  and  operculum,  or  capi- 
tulum  and  stalk,  is  formed  of  the  third  segment  of  the 
head."*  It  consists  of  distinct  plates,  which  overlap  each 
other,  and  are  capable  of  various  movements,  in  which 
respect  it  differs  from  that  of  all  crustaceans,  and  farther, 
is  never  moulted  or  cast  off,  as  is  the  case  in  them. 

But  the  animal  requires,  also,  means  for  procuring 
food  ;  this  is  provided  for,  in  all  common  barnacles,  by 
a  special  modification  of  the  thoracic  limbs,  which  form 
six  pairs,  and  are  admirably  suited  to  their  intended  use. 
(See  Fig.  53,  b.)  Each  is  two-oared  and  many-jointed  ; 
"  they  have  a  peculiar  character,  different  from  the  limbs 
of  other  crustaceans,  not  being  natatory,  ambulatory,  nor 
branchial,  but  '  captorial/  or  fitted  for  sweeping  the 
water,  and  thus  catching  prey/'f  Mr.  Hancock  describes 
these  appendages  as  acting  like  a  prehensile  net.  Is  it 
possible  to  conceive  any  better  example  of  parts  con- 
structed according  to  a  general  model,  and  yet   harmo- 

*  Darwin,  loc.  cit.  vol.  ii.,  p.  13.  +  Ibid.,  vol.  il,  p.  14, 


248  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

niously  combined  and  modified  in  distinct  relation  to  a 
special  purpose,  than  that  found  in  the  barnacle  ?  As- 
suredly the  lately-developed  principle  of  homology  does 
not  set  aside,  but  corroborates  the  old-established  prin- 
ciple of  final  cause  ;  and  it  appears  to  us  that  the  more 
intimate  our  acquaintance  with  the  one,  so  much  clearer 
will  be  our  idea  and  appreciation  of  .the  other. 

Insects — The  busy  bee,  that  master  architect  and 
builder  of  its  class  ;  the  industrious  ants,  from  some  of 
which  man  might  derive  useful  lessons  in  social  economy, 
division  of  labour,  and  persevering  toil ;  the  locusts,  those 
rovers  and  depredators,  the  Goths  and  Vandals  of  the 
winged  articulata  ;  the  painted  butterflies,  sipping  the 
nectar  which  Flora  provides  so  bountifully  ;  the  mailed 
beetles,  the  athletes  of  the  insect  world — notable  as 
swimmers  and  divers,  as  sappers  and  miners,  indeed,  as 
adepts  in  various  departments  of  nature's  economy  too 
numerous  to  be  mentioned  here  ; — all  these  now  invite 
our  attention.  The  field  is  so  vast  that  we  can  only 
glance  at  a  few  cases  in  which  we  observe  modifications 
of  the  archetype,  obviously  concurring  to  serve  useful 
ends  in  the  economy  of  the  animal. 

Whatever  difference  of  opinion  may  exist  in  regard  to 
the  number  of  the  segments  entering  into  the  formation 
of  the  body  of  the  perfect  insect,  the  best  authorities  are 
agreed  that  the  different  pieces  are  homotypes  of  each 
other,  and  that  all  modifications  and  departures  less  or 
greater  from  a  common  model.  We  are  now  to  shew 
that  these  modifications  are  intended  to  serve  an  end 
which  is  more  or  less  obvious.  The  varied  forms  of  the 
whole  body,  in  different  insects,  depend  upon  the  relative 
development  of  the  parts  of  each  segment  and  appendage, 
and  the  diversities  are  invariably  in  direct  harmony  with 
the  peculiar  function  to  be  performed. 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES  249 

The  reader  is  doubtless  familiar  with  the  transforma- 
tions, greater  or  less,  through  which  insects  pass  before 
reaching  maturity.  How  different  is  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  caterpillar  from  that  of  the  winged 
butterfly — the  one  incapable  of  flight,  and  feeding 
upon  the  solid  parts  of  vegetables,  the  other  possessed 
of  powerful  wings,  and  having  extensive  and  rapid  means 
of  aerial  progression,  and  feeding  on  the  sweet  juices  of 
flowers  !  Both  possess  the  same  number  of  true  appen- 
dages for  walking,  namely,  three  pairs  attached  to  the 
segments  of  the  thorax  ;  those  in  the  caterpillar,  or  larva, 
are  nearly  of  the  same  size  and  form.  But  many  larvee, 
as  requiring  efficient  means  of  locomotion  on  a  hard  sur- 
face, are  furnished  with  additional  limbs,  usually  called 
false,  because  they  are  not  appendages  of  the  archetype, 
but  only  prolongations  of  the  external  covering  of  the 
body,  and  are  attached  to  the  abdomen.  Without  enter- 
ing into  details  respecting  the  very  numerous  modifica- 
tions of  these  false  appendages,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  state 
that  whatever  their  number  or  form,  they  are  invariably 
so  constructed  as  to  answer  every  purpose  for  which  they 
may  be  wanted  in  the  economy  of  the  animal. 

It  may  further  be  observed  that  many  larvte  are  des- 
titute of  feet,  and  yet  possess  the  power  of  locomotion. 
And  here  we  sec  a  beautiful  compensatory  arrangement 
in  the  form  of  minute  hooks,  which  are  prolongations  of 
the  external  covering  of  the  body,  the  position,  number, 
and  forms  of  which  are  wonderfully  adapted  to  the  pecu- 
liar habits  of  the  individual.  We  may  conclude  this 
part  of  the  subject  by  quoting  a  passage  from  Mr.  New- 
port:*— "  In  apodal  larvas,  endowed  with  powers  of  locomo- 
tion, the  place  of  the  true  organs  of  progression  is  supplied 
by  peculiar  developments  of  the  cuticular  covering  of  the 

*  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Art.  Inseota. 
11* 


250  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

body,  analogous  to  the  scales  on  the  bodies  of  Ophidiam 
reptiles,  and  these  are  employed  by  the  larvce  in  all  their 
progressive  movements  in  the  same  manner  as  the  scales 
on  the  body  of  the  snake.  But  in  those  apodal  (footless) 
larvre,  which  remain  in  the  same  locality  until  they  have 
passed  through  all  their  changes,  as  the  larvas  of  the  bee 
and  wasp,  these  developments  of  the  cuticular  surface  do 
not  exist,  but  the  body  is  perfectly  smooth." 

If  such  remarkable  conformity  exists  between  the 
habits  of  the  immature  animal  and  the  development  of 
certain  temporary  organs  with  which  it  is  furnished,  we 
may  be  prepared  to  expect  harmonious  adaptations  of 
the  archetype  all  conducing  to  the  existence  and  comfort 
of  the  perfect  insect,  suited  to  its  instincts  and  fitting  it 
to  the  position  which  it  is  to  occupy,  in  earth,  air,  or 
water.  The  usual  elongated  body  of  the  grovelling 
larva  in  general  presents  evident  uniformity  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  segments  as  well  as  of  the  true  appen- 
dages when  present,  in  other  words,  there  is  a  close 
approach  to  the  archetype.  The  new  sphere  which  it  is 
subsequently  designed  to  occupy,  demands  corresponding 
modifications  in  the  form  of  the  whole  body,  and  in  that 
of  the  segments  and  appendages. 

In  the  perfect  insect,  division  of  the  body  into  three 
regions,  head,  thorax,  and  abdomen,  is  generally  obvious. 
Each  of  these  consists  of  parts  adapted  to  certain  ends, 
and  all  concurring  to  the  well-being  of  the  entire  organ- 
ism. All  of  them  present  entire  fitness  for  their  respect- 
ive functions  ;  those  of  the  head  support  certain  sensatory 
organs  and  appendages  for  capture,  retention,  and  reduc- 
tion of  the  food  ;  those  of  the  thorax  afford  attachment  to 
wings  and  limbs ;  the  abdominal  segments  protect  certain 
viscera,  and  serve  other  purposes  besides. 

The  differences  to  be  observed  in  the  hardness  of  the 


OF    RINGS   AND    APPENDAGES.  251 

framework  are  remarkably  adapted  to  the  uses  of  the  part 
Where  close  union  and  density  are  wanted  for  strength, 
there  we  find  them-;  in  the  head  this  is  specially  evident ; 
mobility  is  sacrificed  for  firmness  precisely  where  such  is 
necessary.  The  consistence  of  the  head  segments  is,  as 
a  general  rule,  greater  than  that  of  any  other  region  of 
the  body.  The  head  is  the  part  of  all  others  most  ex- 
posed during  progression,  whether  in  air,  earth,  or  water  ; 
besides,  it  supports  mandibular  organs,  whose  function 
frequently  is  to  act  upon  very  hard  materials  and  fit  them 
for  digestion.  Owing,  in  fact,  to  the  close  union  of  the 
elements  of  the  typical  rings  forming  the  head,  there  has 
been  more  difference  of  opinion  regarding  the  number  of 
its  segments  than  those  of  any  other  part  of  the  body. 
The  muscles  of  the  insect  are  inserted  on  the  internal 
surface  of  the  framework,  and  we  might  naturally  expect 
a  relation  between  the  development  of  the  two.  Where 
strong  organs  of  mastication  are  needed,  the  segments  of 
the  head 'are  large,  being  directly  proportional  to  the 
power  which  the  mandibular  apparatus  is  fitted  to  exer- 
cise. Mr.  Newport  remarks,  "  we  invariably  find  that  in 
those  insects  in  which  the  mandibles  are  large,  the  whole 
head  is  either  short  and  wide,  or  its  posterior  portions,  to 
which  the  muscles  of  the  mandibles  are  attached,  greatly 
exceed  those  of  the  anterior."* 

The  great  extent  of  surface  occupied  by  the  organs  of 
vision  in  many  insects,  has  an  influence  also  on  the  gene- 
ral development  of  the  whole  head  and  of  its  elements. 
The  rapacious  dragon-flics,  for  example,  hunt  solely  by 
sight,  and  their  eyes  occupy  almost  two-thirds  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  head,  and  we  observe  corresponding  modifica- 
tions in  the  segments.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into 
minute  details  regarding  the  variously  modified  appen- 

*Cyc1opxdia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Art.  Tnsecta. 


252 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


dages  of  the  different  segments  of  the  head  ;  it  will  "be 
sufficient  to  indicate  some  of  the  more  obvious  adapta- 
tions of  the  elements  to  their  respective  functions.  The 
wide  dissemination  of  insect  life  implies  considerable 
range  in  the  instincts  and  means  of  existence.  The 
predatory  habits  of  some  constitute  them  the  carnivora 
of  their  class,  and  others  are  not  less  fitted — than  rodent 
mammals — to  gnaw  hard  vegetable  matters.  The  in- 
stinct which  leads  some  to  sip  the  sweet  fluids  of  flowers, 
or  stimulates  others  to  tap  the  integuments  of  animals 
or  of  plants  for  the  purpose  of  feeding  on  their  juices, 
equally  require  adaptation  of  the  mouth  to  such  purposes. 
But  whatever  the  end  to  be  accomplished,  and  however 
great  the  apparent  difference  of  the  organs  which  mini- 
ster to  the  subsistence  of  the  insect,  it  was  long  ago 
demonstrated  by  Savigny  that  in  every  case  the  parts  are 
fundamentally  identical,  though  varied  to  suit  a  purpose. 
The  study  of  the  mouth-organs  in  insects  has  occupied 
the  attention  of  numerous  observers, 
and  the  results  of  such  researches 
have  shewn  how  admirably  each  piece 
is  fitted  for  its  function,  and  at  the 
same  time  accommodated  to  act  in 
harmony  with  every  other. 

In  the  great  water-beetle  (Hydrous 
piceus)  the  mandibles  are  two  strong, 
arched  and  toothed  jaws  moving  hori- 
zontally in  opposition  to  each  other ; 
this  species  is  omnivorous.  In  the 
truly  carnivorous  forms,  as  the  brilliantly-coloured  and 
active  tiger-beetles,  the  mandibles  are  acutely  pointed, 
strongly  toothed,  and  crossing  each  other  like  the  blades 

*  Fig.  55.  Mandible  of  a  large  water-beetle,  (Hydrous  piceus.)  There  are  two  such 
which  act  in  opposition  to  each  other,  like  the  blades  of  scissors.  The  opposed  edge* 
are  hard  and  toothed. 


Fig.  55* 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES. 


253 


of  scissors,  and  are  thus  admirably  fitted  for  dividing  the 
prey.  Those  of  Melolontha  (the  cockchafer)  have  short 
blunt  teeth  fitted  to  bruise  vegetable  matter  ;  in  Cetonia, 
which  feeds  on  the  pollen  of  plants,  the  edges  of  the  man- 
dibles are  soft  and  flexible.  The  mandibles  of  the  locust 
are  in  front  so  constituted  as  to  form  cutting  organs,  and 
behind  act  as  grinders  of  the  vegetable  food. 

The  maxillae,  or  lesser  jaws,  are  organs  of  prehension 
and  retention  chiefly,  but  may  aid  also  in 
mastication.  Like  the  organs  just  de- 
scribed, they  present  differences  in  form 
and  texture  in  direct  consistency  with  the 
habits  of  the  insect. 

Among  Hymenoptera,  comprehending 
bees,  wasps,  &c,  the  mandibles  present 
very  considerable  difference  in  form  ;  "  in 
the  Vespida),  (wasps,)  which  gather  the 
materials  for  their  nests  by  rasping  off 
little  packets  of  fibres  from  decaying  wood, 
they  are  broad,  triangular,  and  armed  along 
their  edges  with  strong  teeth  ;  and  such  is 
also  their  structure  in  Anthidium  manicatum,  which 
scrapes  off  the  down  from  the  woolly  stems  and  leaves  of 
plants  for  the  same  purpose  ;  while  in  the  hive-bee,  which 
employs  them  in  moulding  the  soft  wax  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  combs,  they  are  shaped  at  the  apex  like  a 
spoon,  without  indentations  ;  their  form  in  each  instance- 
being  thus  distinctly  conformable  to  the  habits  of  the 
insects."f 

The  highly-developed  instincts  of  bees,  which  lead  to 


Fig.  56.* 


*Fig.  56..  Maxillr,  or  smaller  jaws  of  the  Hydrous.  Thoy  act  in  pairs,  but  as  tholr 
function  is  to  hold  the  food  and  convey  it  to  the  back  part  if  the  mouth,  they  are  not  so 
strong  as  the  mandibles,  which  divide,  and  bruise  the  food ;  they,  however,  hare  a  gene- 
ral resemblance  in  shape. 

t  Newport,  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy  and  Thysiology,  p.  898. 


254  SPECIAL   MODIFICATIONS 

the  formation  of  very  ingeniously  constructed  nests,  imply 
the  necessity  of  tools  for  the  work  ;  these  are  furnished 
by  the  mandibles,  while  the  maxilhe  and  another  cranial 
element  termed  the  labium,  are  principally  concerned  in 
collecting  the  food  ;  the  former  are  elongated,  and  with 
the  latter  beneath,  together  constitute  a  tube  by  means 
of  which  the  honey  of  flowers  is  conveyed  to  the  mouth. 

But  wc  must  pass  on  to  consider  arrangements  suitable 
to  the  habits  of  suctorial  insects  properly  so  called,  and 
here  also,  while  the  general  plan  is  evidently  adhered  to, 
the  modifications  are  in  strict  conformity  with  the  wants 
of  the  animal,  and  all  concurring  to  a  common  end. 

Hitherto  we  have  seen  that  the  mandibular  appen- 
dages have  occupied  either  the  chief,  or  at  least  the  pro- 
minent place  in  the  operation  of  feeding  ;  in  the  Haus- 
tellate  insects  (those  furnished  with  a  proboscis)  the 
mandibles  no  longer  perform  the  same  important  offices, 
while  the  maxillae  and  -the  labium  now  assume  greater 
prominence  and  importance  in  the  economy  of  the  insect. 
Every  one  must  be  familiar  with  the  habits  of  moths 
and  butterflies  "hovering  around  those  opening  flowers," 
and  closer  inspection  would  reveal  that  the  insects  carry 
with  them  an  apparatus  admirably  fitted  to  reach  the 
sweet  juices  in  parts  of  the  plant,  into  which  the  body  of 
the  animals  could  not  possibly  find  access.  The  short 
mandibles  of  the  voracious  vegetable-feeding  caterpillar, 
though  admirably  fitted  to  that  stage  of  life,  would  be 
utterly  useless  in  the  new  sphere  which  it  occupies,  when, 
issuing  from  the  mummy-like  case  of  the  pupa,  it  emerges 
as  a  winged  imago,  endowed  with  new  instincts  and  new 
faculties.  The  perfect  insect  carries  with  it  an  instrument 
admirably  fitted  for  reaching  and  drawing  up  the  nectar 
of  flowers.  The  mandibles  are  no  longer  capable  of 
supplying  the  wants  of  the  animal,  as  the  sweet  fluid 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES.  255 

on  which  it  feeds  requires  no  mastication  ;  but  an  organ 
is  needed  to  suck  it  up,  and  of  sufficient  length  to  reach 
the  parts  of  the  plant  where  it  abounds  ;  such  an  organ 
is  supplied. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  select,  in  the  entire  range  of 
the  animal  kingdom,  such  a  remarkable  example  of 
special  modification  of  typical  organs,  as  that  presented 
to  us  in  the  proboscis  of  the  butterfly.  The  problem 
is  to  convert  the  maxilla3  (which  in  some  insects  we 
have  seen  to  be  organs  for  prehension  and  mastica- 
tion) into  organs  adapted  to  the  function  they  have  to 
perform  in  the  moth  or  butterfly  ;  for,  as  we  have  just 
said,  the  portable  flexible  tube  in  these  animals  really 
corresponds  to  the  maxillae  of  a  beetle.  Sweet  juices 
abound  in  flowers,  access  to  the  bottom  of  every  floral  tube 
would  be  impossible  to  insects  having  the  large  prominent 
eyes  of  those  under  discussion,  and  so  a  peculiar  contriv- 
ance is  necessary  under  the  circumstances — that  contriv- 
ance is  simple,  yet  efficient  for  every  purpose  required. 

The  structure  of  the  mouth-apparatus  in  the  Lepidop- 
tera  has  been  so  fully  illustrated  in  other  works,  that  a 
summary  may  be  sufficient  here. 

The  appendages  called  maxillse  constitute  the  sucking 
apparatus.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Newport,  "  each  maxilla 
is  composed  of  an  immense  number  of  short,  transverse, 
muscular  rings.  It  is  convex  on  its  outer  surface,  but 
concave  on  its  inner,  and  the  tube  is  formed  by  the  ap- 
proximation of  the  two  organs."*  But  something  more 
is  necessary.  By  what  means  are  the  two  opposed  chan- 
nels to  be  kept  in  sufficiently  close  contact  so  as  to  form 
a  perfect  tube  ?  Reaumur,  Kirby,  and  others,  have  de- 
scribed numerous  minute  and  delicate  hooks  or  teeth, 
(for  they  assume  varied  forms  in  different  species,)  which 

*  Newport,  loc.  cit.,  p.  90. 


256 


SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 


are  arranged  in  close  series  along  the  inner  margin  of 
each  maxilla,  and  the  teeth  of  the  one  set  lock  between 
the  teeth  of  the  other.     The  animal  is  now  furnished 


Fig.  57.* 


Fig.  58.+ 


with  a  means  of  searching  every  crevice  of  a  flower  for 
the  tempting  juice  which  is  formed  there.  But  some- 
thing more  is  necessary.  Not  a  few  Lepidoptera  feed 
upon  wing,  and  the  act  of  feeding  is  very  quickly  per- 
formed ;  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  tube  is  inserted, 
and  the  flower  is  robbed  of  its  sweets.  The  act  of  suc- 
tion, by  producing  a  vacuum,  which  enables  the  infant 
to  procure  nourishment  from  the  breast,  is  also  brought 
into  play  in  order  that  the  fluid  may  rise  in  the  butter- 
fly's proboscis.  The  peculiar  air-tubes  which  traverse 
the  bodies  of  insects,  for  the  purpose  of  respiration,  are 
abundantly  distributed  throughout  the  maxilla?  in  the  head, 
and  over  the  gullet  and  alimentary  canal.  Experiments 
made  by  Mr.  Newport  led  to  the  conclusion  that   the 


*  Fig.  57.    Head  of  Noctua  libatrix ;  m,  mandibles,  small ;  ma,  the  two  maxillae, 

large,  and  forming  the  proboscis  or  sucking  apparatus, 
t  Fig.  58.  A  single  maxilla  of  the  same. 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES.  257 

insect  first  makes  a  strong  effort  to  expel  the  air,  and 
just  when  the  proboscis  comes  in  contact  with  the  fluid,  a 
powerful  inspiratory  effort  is  made,  which  occasions  dila- 
tation of  the  tube,  producing  a  vacuum,  and  thus  causing 
the  liquid  food  to  rise.  There  is  still,  however,  another 
arrangement  necessary  in  this  simple  hut  efficient  appa- 
ratus. It  must  be  long  enough  to  reach  to  the  very 
bottom  of  the  floral  shaft  whence  the  food  is  to  be  drawn, 
but  a  long  and  flexible  tube  would  be  liable  to  injury, 
and  also  inconvenient  during  progression  on  the  ground 
or  in  the  air  ;  it  must,  therefore,  be  portable  ;  and  here 
another  modification  comes  in  to  provide  for  the  comfort 
of  the  insect.  The  two  maxillas,  conjoined  in  the  way 
we  have  described,  are,  when  at  rest,  coiled  like  the  spring 
of  a  watch,  but  can  be  extended  with  ease  and  surprising 
rapidity  as  required.     (See  Fig.  58.) 

The  mandibles — which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  so  highly 
developed  in  some  insects  of  prey,  and  are,  on  the  con- 
trary, so  useless  in  the  butterfly — assume  a  new  aspect 
and  function  in  the  blood-sucking  Tabanidae.  In  the 
typical  genus  of  that  family,  they  are  long  and  lancet- 
shaped  ;  and  Mr.  Newport  describes  them  as  acting  not 
from  side  to  side,  but  with  a  horizontal  movement  from 
behind  forwards,  cutting  also  vertically  with  a  sweeping 
stroke,  like  the  lancets  of  a  cupping  instrument.  We  may 
add,  that  the  bite  of  the  gnat  is  effected  in  the  same  way. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  examine  the  modifications  pre- 
sented by  the  next  region  of  the  body — the  thorax,  namely. 
The  three  different  segments  which  constitute  this  part 
will  also  afford  means  of  illustrating  the  argument. 

The  first  or  anterior  ring  (prothorax)  supports  the 
first  pair  of  legs  ;  the  second  or  middle  portion  (meso- 
thorax)  gives  attachment  to  the  first  pair  of  wings  and 
the  second  pair  of  legs  ;  the  third  or  posterior  (meta- 


258  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

thorax)  bears  the  second  pair  of  wings  and  third  pair  of 
legs.  All  these  segments  and  their  corresponding  ap- 
pendages ju-esent  notable  differences,  according  to  their 
relative  importance  in  the  same  or  in  different  insects. 

We  have  now  to  examine  organs  concerned  principally 
in  that  faculty  which  is  so  eminently  characteristic  of 
the  insect  tribes.  We  have  seen  the  very  admirable  pro- 
vision made  for  enabling  each  to  secure  its  peculiar  food  ; 
no  less  remarkable  are  the  modifications  of  organs  in 
co-operation  for  the  function  of  locomotion,  so  that  the 
necessary  food  may  be  sought  after. 

•  The  alar  appendages,  or  wings,  are  viewed  by  some 
as  not  constituting  a  necessary  part  of  the  archetype,  but 
organs  superadded,  and  serving  both  for  flight  and  respir- 
ation.* Their  relative  development  in  different  species 
is  accompanied  with  co-ordinate  changes  in  the  segments 
which  support  them,  and  the  other  appendages  which  form 
the  legs  of  the  insect.  Entomologists  in  treating  of  this  part 
of  the  body,  cannot  avoid  alluding  to  and  enlarging  upon 
the  evident  relation  between  the  habits  of  the  insect  and 
the  modifications  of  the  thoracic  segments  and  their  ele- 
ments, and  we  cannot  do  better  than  introduce  an  abstract 
of  Mr.  Newport's  remarks.f  There  is  wonderful  modifi- 
cation in  shape  and  variety,  in  size  and  position,  of  the 
thoracic  elements,  in  order  that  the  body  of  the  insect 
may  be  in  conformity  with  its  mode  of  life.  In  the  great 
water-beetle,  (Hydrous  piceus,)  which  burrows  deeply  in 
the  mud  of  stagnant  waters,  and  rises  also  to  the  surface 
to  bask  in  the  sun,  the  form  of  the  lower  surface  of  the 
entire  thorax  is  admirably  adapted  to  its  habits.  The 
sternal  elements  of  the  meso-thorax  and  the  meta-thorax 


*  The  wings  may,  however,  he  considered  as  homologous  with  the  upper  appendage* 
of  Annelida; — sea-worms  are  examples, 
f  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Art.  Insecta,  p.  917. 


OF   KINGS   AND   APPENDAGES.  259 

are  strongly  keeled  and  firmly  united  together,  enabling 
the  insect  to  float  securely.  In  others  nearly  allied,  but 
of  more  active  aquatic  habits,  swimming  with  ease  and 
quickness,  and  capable  of  rapidly  turning  and  following 
all  the  movements  of  their  living  prey,  there  is  but  a 
slight  keel  below,  and  the  edges  of  the  body  are  sharp,  so 
as  to  oppose  little  resistance  to  the  water.  In  beetles 
there  is  always  a  beautiful  relation  between  the  general 
structure  of  the  thorax  and  the  habits  of  the  insects, 
whether  in  walking,  flying,  or  in  swimming.  In  those 
which  pass  great  part  of  their  lives  on  the  ground,  run- 
ning or  walking,  the  middle  and  posterior  segments  of  the 
thorax  are  often  firmly  joined  together,  in  order  to  give 
greater  strength  to  the  whole  body.  This  occurs  in  all 
beetles  which  require  great  muscular  effort  during  flight, 
and  in  those  accustomed  to  laborious  efforts  in  tearing, 
in  burrowing,  or  in  running. 

But,  without  enlarging  on  this  subject,  it  may  be 
observed  that  the  size  and  strength  of  each  segment  of 
the  thorax  are  in  direct  proportion  to  that  of  the  append- 
ages which  it  supports,  and  the  whole  structure  of  rings 
and  appendages  present  admirable  conformity  to  the 
mode  of  life.  For  example,  when,  as  in  bees,  moths,  and 
the  common  fly,  the  anterior  pair  of  wings  are  the  chief 
locomotive  organs,  the  meso-thorax  or  middle  segment  is 
highly  developed,  and  there  is  corresponding  decrease  in 
the  other  two. 

The  proper  appendages  of  the  thorax  may  now  be  ex- 
amined, and  in  them  we  find  notable  correlation  between 
the  habits  of  the  insect  and  the  modifications  of  the 
parts.  Here  there  is  a  wide  field  illustrative  of  the  ar- 
gument ;  but  since  this  subject  has  been  already  so  fully 
discussed  in  different  treatises  on  natural  theology,  it  will 
be  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  refer  to  a  few  examples. 


260  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

The  legs  are  the  proper  organs  employed  in  terrestrial 
locomotion,  and  for  other  purposes  besides.  As  already 
stated,  there  are  three  j)airs  of  such  appendages  attached 
to  the  corresponding  segments  of  the  thorax. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  vertebrata  the  limbs  or  di- 
verging appendages  of  certain  parts  of  the  model  frame- 
work are  variously  and  suitably  modified,  according  as 
they  are  intended  for  grasping,  walkings  swimming,  or 
flying.  The  same  law  of  consistency  between  form  and 
function  prevails  among  insects,  and  as  in  the  higher 
animals,  unity  and  diversity  are  singularly  combined,  the 
same  is  true  among  the  winged  Articulata  ;  in  the  words 
of  Professor  Ilymer  Jones — -"Nothing  is,  perhaps,  better 
calculated  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  student  of  ani- 
mated nature,  than  the  amazing  results  obtained  by  the 
slightest  deviations  from  a  common  type  of  organization. 
The  limbs  used  in  swimming  exhibit  the  same  parts,  the 
same  number  of  joints,  and  almost  the  same  shape,  as  those 
employed  for  creeping,  climbing,  leaping,  and  numerous 
other  purposes  ;  yet  how  different  is  the  function  assigned 
to  them  !"*  The  predatory  tiger-beetles  are  swift  of 
foot — freedom  of  motion  and  lightness  of  the  organs  are 
necessary  accompaniments,  and  such  is  the  character  of 
their  thoracic  appendages  ;  it  is  the  same  in  every  in- 
stance where  the  habits  are  similar.  In  those  which  swim 
and  dive,  as  the  water-beetles,  &c,  length  of  lever-power, 
breadth  of  surface,  and  strength  of  the  parts,  ail  are  neces- 
sary— and  such  we  find  to  be  provided  in  their  limbs. 
They  are  not,  however,  all  of  equal  length,  'nor  do  all  act 
equally  in  aquatic  progression.  The  posterior  pair,  as 
regards  position  and  form,  are  the  chief  propellers  of  the 
insect,  they  are  flat  like  the  end  of  a  paddle,  and  the  ex- 
tent of  surface  presented  to  the  water  is  very  much  in- 

*  The  Animal  Kingdom,  p.  245. 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES.  261 

creased  by  a  fringe  of  hairs,  which  do  not  materially 
add  to  the  weight  of  the  whole  limb.  This  admirable 
contrivance  servos  another  purpose,  viz.,  what  is  called 
feathering  the  oar,  when  a  new  position  is  necessary  for 
a  fresh  impulse  ;  for  in  the  forward  stroke  of  the  limb  the 
hairs  are  of  such  nature  and  so  arranged,  that  they 
change  their  position  and  accomplish  the  object  in  ques- 
tion. Limbs  simply  intended  for  walking  are  usually 
equally  developed  in  all  respects.  Surfaces  intended  to 
act  as  sucking  discs  by  the  pressure  of  the  air,  are  by  no 
means  uncommon,  as  in  certain  water-beetles.  In  some 
instances,  flat  cushions  on  the  limbs,  giving  out  a  clammy 
secretion,  are  provided  in  order  to  enable  the  animal  to 
climb  smooth  perpendicular  surfaces,  or  hang  with  its 
body  lowest  from  the  ceiling  ;  such  is  now  generally  be- 
lieved to  be  the  arrangement  in  the  house-fly.  Mr.  New- 
port remarks,  "  those  insects  which  support  themselves 
upon  the  surface  of  water,  as  the  common  gnat,  have  the 
under  surface  of  each  tarsus  covered  with  rows  of  fine 
hairs,  which  repel  the  water  and  support  the  insect  upon 
the  surface.  If  the  under  part  of  the  tarsi  be  wetted  with 
spirits  of  wine,  the  insect  can  no  longer. support  itself 
upon  the  surface,  but  immediately  sinks  down." 

The  powers  of  the  most  accomplished  vaulter,  aided 
by  mechanical  adjuncts,  are  insignificant  in  comparison 
with  those  possessed  by  not  a  few  insects.  For  the 
accomplishment  of  such  mode  of  progression,  we  find  cor- 
responding modifications  of  the  posterior  pair  of  legs, 
which  are  chiefly  concerned  in  this  kind  of  function. 
The  large  and  strong  coxa  or  first  piece,  is  received  into 
a  deep  depression  of  the  supporting  arch ;  the  piece  called 
thigh  is  of  great  length,  and  very  greatly  enlarged  in 
transverse  diameter,  so  as  to  furnish  attachment  to  the 
powerful  internal   muscles.     The  sudden  unbending  of 


262  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS 

the  strong  limb  enables  the  animal  to  accomplish  its 
purpose.  An  additional  arrangement  is  alluded  to  by 
entomologists  as  being  provided  in  such  cases  ;  the  lower 
surface  of  the  tarsus  is  covered  with  elastic  cushions, 
which  are  supposed  to  assist  in  the  first  effort,  and  finally 
to  act  in  breaking  the  fall  when  the  insect  alights.  The 
flea,  turnip-fly,  grasshoppers,  &c,  present  examples  of 
such  limbs. 

In  the  mole-cricket  the  fore-limbs  are  used  in  tunnel- 
ling, and  admirably  suited  they  are  for  such  purpose, 
and  the  corresponding  part  of  the  thorax  is  of  commen- 
surate strength.  The  basal  joint  of  the  limb,  called 
coxa,  is  of  unusual  size.  The  thigh  is  joined  to  both 
coxa  and  trochanter — an  arrangement  which  adds  ma- 
terially to  its  strength.  The  succeeding  portion,  the  tibia 
or  leg,  usually  so  called,  is  the  instrument  by  which  the 
soil  is  penetrated  and  thrust  aside  ;  it  is  short  and  broad, 
the  outer  surface  of  it  also  is  furnished  with  several  strong, 
curved  projections,  the  whole  presenting  a  strong  and 
broad  surface,  and  therefore  becoming  an  efficient  instru- 
ment by  which  the  animal  burrows  in  the  soil. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  last  joint 
of  the  foot  in  insects  is  usually  furnished  with  a  pair  of 
strong  hooks,  which  afford  important  aid  in  climbing  or 
clinging  to  rough  surfaces. 

In  a  word,  whatever  the  peculiar  habit  of  the  insect, 
the  elements  of  the  limb  are  variously  modified  to  minis- 
ter to  its  existence  and  comfort. 

We  pass  on  to  examine  the  last  part  of  the  body,  and 
in  it,  the  abdomen  namely,  we  shall  find  modifications 
of  the  model  not  less  instructive  than  those  already 
brought  forward. 

Some  difference  of  opinion  exists  respecting  the  exact 
number  of  segments  entering  into  the  formation  of  the 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES.  263 

third  or  abdominal  region  of  the  insect ;  whatever  may 
be  the  normal  number,  it  is  nevertheless  admitted 
that  all  are  homotypes,  and  each  fitted  to  its  respective 
function. 

Generally  speaking,  the  appendicular  elements  are 
wanting,  or,  for  the  most  part,  of  very  secondary  import- 
ance, in  the  abdomen.  This  part  of  the  body  protects  a 
large  proportion  of  the  organs  concerned  in  nutrition  and 
reproduction,  and,  as  the  space  occupied  by  these  is 
liable  to  vary,  we  generally  find  considerable  capacity  of 
expansion  in  the  segments  of  which  it  consists,  and,  in- 
deed, throughout  the  whole  of  this  region. 

But  abdominal  appendages  are  not  always  wanting, 
and  sometimes  they  are  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the 
economy  of  the  insect ;  they  usually  belong  to  some  of  the 
terminal  rings.  There  is  an  order  of  insects  denomi- 
nated Hymenoptera,  among  which  we  meet  with  highly 
developed  instincts,  leading  to  the  performance  of  various 
acts,  which  could  not  be  accomplished  without  some  cor- 
responding adaptations  in  the  frame  ;  all  of  these  are  pro- 
vided and  are  exactly  suited  to  the  instincts  and  to  each 
other.  The  saw-fly,  the  gall-fly,  the  inchneumon-fly,  and 
others,  in  the  larva  condition,  feed  upon  different  parts  of 
plants,  or  on  the  internal  organs  of  other  insects.  The 
female  deposits  her  eggs  in  suitable  localities  by  "means 
of  an  instrument,  the  ovipositor,  fitted  specially  for  that 
purpose.  Others  are  provided  with  formidable  weapons 
of  defence  and  offence,  in  the  form  of  a  sting.  But  what- 
ever be  the  function  of  the  instruments  in  question,  they 
are  invariably  modifications  of  the  same  abdominal  ele- 
ments, and  in  every  instance  suited  to  their  end. 

It  is  among  Hymenopterous  insects  that  we  find  the 
most  perfect  forms  of  an  egg-depositing  instrument ;  and 
as  the  localities  in  which  the  eggs  are  placed  differ,  the 


264  SPECIAL    MODIFICATIONS. 

modifications  of  the  instruments  are  of  commensurate 
import.  The  leaf-flies,  the  gall-insects,  the  saw-flies,  and 
ichneumons,  all  present  instruments  varying  in  length 
and  strength,  according  to  the  substance  which  each  is 
intended  to  penetrate.  Those  of  the  leaf  and  gall-insects 
are  just  sufficient  to  allow  them  to  penetrate  vegetable 
tissues  :  neither  is  there  any  great  force  requisite  to  enable 
the  ichneumon  female  to  deposit  her  ova  in  the  bodies  of 
other  insects,  or  in  the  cocoons  of  spiders,  or  in  the  eggs 
of  butterflies.  The  saw-flies,  which  penetrate  hard  wood 
for  a  similar  purpose,  are  provided  with  an  apparatus  of 
great  power  and  admirable  construction.  In  every  special 
case  there  is  some  remarkable  harmonious  adaptation,  so 
that  by  inspection  of  the  apparatus  we  can  ascertain  the 
way  in  which  the  eggs  are  deposited.  The  elements  con- 
cerned in  boring  are  placed  in  pairs,  and  furnished  with 
teeth  on  the  edge  and  sides,  the  former  serving  as  a  saw, 
the  latter  as  a  rasp.  This  delicate  instrument  requires 
support  when  acting,  as  well  as  protection  ;  and  accord- 
ingly these  desiderata  are  provided,  and  the  sword  does 
not  more  accurately  fit  the  scabbard  than  are  the  respec- 
tive parts  of  the  ovipositor  suited  to  each  other,  and  to  the 
habits  of  the  insects. 

Certain  elements  and  appendages  of  the  terminal  part 
of  the  abdomen  are  transformed  into  a  saw  or  file,  or  both, 
as  the  case  may  be,  and  others  are  fitted  to  give  them 
strength  and  protection.*  It  matters  not  what  the  size 
of  the  insect,  whether  the  comjiaratively  large  Sirex  or 
the  very  minute  Ichneumon  ovulorum,f  the  general  plan 
is  the  same,  but  in  every  instance  presents  some  peculi- 
arity adapted  to  the  nidus  selected  by  the  species. 

*  Lacaze  Duthiers,  on  Genital  Armature  of  Insects,  Annales  des  Sciences  Naturelles, 
1849, 1S52. 

t  This  tiny  insect  deposits  several  ova  in  a  single  egg  of  a  butterfly,  the  contents  of 
ivhicb  afford  sufficient  food,  as  well  as  protection,  to  all  the  young  which  are  produced. 


OF    RINGS    AND    APPENDAGES.  265 

The  formidable  sting  of  the  bee  and  of  the  wasp  are 
examples  of  other  modifications  presenting  no  less  beau- 
tiful harmony  between  organ  and  function.  Generally 
speaking,  the  appendages  of  the  abdominal  segments  are 
absent,  or  if  present,  very  rudimentary,  because  not  re- 
quired in  the  economy  of  the  insect.  What  we  have 
stated  respecting  the  ovipositor  and  sting,  affords  proof 
that  when  certain  appendages  are  necessary  they  are 
provided. 

We  find  them,  however,  in  other  cases,  furnished  for  a 
different  purpose.  The  insects  called  skip-tails  present 
remarkable  examples  of  this.  In  the  genus  Lepisma, 
there  is  a  pair  of  appendages  attached  to  eacb  abdominal 
segment.  In  Podura,  and  others,  the  singular  tail-like 
organ  consists  of  an  elastic  stem  ending  in  two  branches, 
like  a  fork  and  its  handle.  During  repose  this  instrument 
is  bent  beneath  the  insect,  and  is  lodged  in  a  groove' ; 
when  suddenly  straightened  the  animal  is  thus  enabled  to 
spring  a  considerable  distance.  The  handle  of  this  fork- 
like organ  is  believed  to  represent  the  sternal  or  lower 
part  of  the  abdominal  segment,  the  two  prongs  are  stated 
to  be  the  homologues  of  the  lateral  appendages. 

We  may  finally,  and  very  briefly,  allude  to  a  remark- 
able transformation  of  abdominable  appendages  in  another 
class  of  the  jointed  invertebrata. 

The  web  of  the  spider  is  constructed  of  delicate 
threads,  which  are  given  out  by  parts  called  spinnerets  ; 
these  are  organs  consisting  of  two  or  more  joints.  The 
end  of  the  spinneret  is  pierced  with,  a  great  number  of 
small  holes,  each  of  which  gives  out  a  drop  of  fluid 
which  hardens  in  the  air.  The  minute  threads  of  each 
organ  are  joined  to  form  one,  and  those  of  all  the  spin- 
nerets again  unite  to  form  the  apparently  simple  thread  of 
the  spider,  which  is  therefore  in  reality  complex.     There 

12 


266        MODIFICATIONS    OF    RINGS   AND    APPENDAGES. 

appears  to  be  no  doubt  that 'the  organs  which  produce 
the  spider's  thread  are  really  abdominal  appendages,  thus 
singularly  modified  for  the  animal's  convenience.  They 
are  composed  of  several  joints,  as  limbs  are,  and  in  some 
species  one  pair  of  them- — not  being  perforated  nor  fur- 
nished with  an  organ  to  produce  the  thread,  and  there- 
fore apparently  not  needed — are  nevertheless  of  interest 
to  the  zoologist,  as  indicating  the  real  nature  of  the  true 
Bpinnerets. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

RADIATA. 
SECT.  I. — TTPIOAIj   FORMS    OF   RADIATA 

The  Radiate  type  of  animal  structure,  as  the  name 
indicates,  is  characterized  by  a  tendency  to  repetition  of 
parts  round  a  centre.  This  division  of  the  animal  king- 
dom comprehends,  on  the  one  hand,  the  minute  and  soft 
hydra  of  our  fresh  waters,  and,  on  the  other,  the  hard  and 
formidably-armed  urchins  of  our  seas. 

At  one  time,  many  of  the  radiates  were  supposed  to 
belong  to  the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  more  accurate  obser- 
vation has  resolved  the  doubts  respecting  their  nature, 
and  demonstrated  that  they  belong  to  the  animal  king- 
dom. It  may  be  added  however,  that  still  more  recent 
discoveries  have  shown  that,  in  the  mode  of  reproduction 
by  buds  and  ova,  they  present  a  remarkable  parallelism 
to  plants.  And  here  we  see  evidence  that  certain  ani- 
mals and  plants  have  so  much  of  unity  of  plan,  as  to 
shew  that  they  have  been  constructed  by  the  same 
Architect. 

Our  aim  is  to  shew  that,  while  there  is  adherence  to  a 
Radiate  plan,  there  are  departures  from  it  on  the  one 
side  and  on  the  other — deviations  which  have  reference 
to  some  end  in  the  economy  of  the  animal.  We  meet 
with  difficulties  in  this  as  in  other  departments,  but  we 


268  TYPICAL   FOKMS 

doubt  not  that  as  science  advances,  and  our  knowledge  of 
their  development,  of  their  structure,  and  of  their  habits , 
becomes  increased,  additional  proofs  will  accumulate  in 
favour  of  our  argument. 

Professor  Huxley  has  done  good  service  in  shewing 
the  relations  of  certain  Kadiata,  viz.,  Medusas,  Physo- 
phorida?,  and  Diphvdas,  belonging  to  the  Acalepha,  or 
sea-jellies,  and  Hydra  and  Sertulariadaa,  placed  among 
Hydroid  Polyps.  He  considers  them  "  members  of  one 
great  group,  organized  upon  one  simple  and  uniform 
plan,  and,  even  in  their  most  complex  and  aberrant  forms, 
reducible  to  the  same  type."*  Among  Echinodermata,f 
there  is  evident  adhesion  to  a  common  type,  while  there 
is,  at  the  same  time,  wide  range  in  their  general  aspect. 
In  some  of  the  sea-urchins  the  body  is  almost  spherical, 
in  the  sea-stars  it  is  angular  ;  but  these  extremes  pass 
into  each  other  by  almost  insensible  gradations.  Among 
the  sea-urchins,  Echinocyamus  and  others  present  a 
pentangular  outline  ;  in  Asteriscusj  one  of  the  sea-stars, 
the  general  form  is  similar,  the  angles,  however,  being 
very  indistinct.  In  Solaster,  the  angles  are  more  prom- 
inent ;  in  Asteracanthion,  Ophidiaster,  and  Luidia,  the 
angles  are  changed  into  true  rays,  and  become  more  and 
more'  distinct  from  the  body.  In  Ophiura,  this  separa- 
tion into  arms  and  body  is  complete,  and  in  Eoryale,  the 
arms  become  very  much  branched.  The  flattening  of 
the  body  also  differs  ; — in  Palmipes  membranaceus,  we 
have  a  good  example  of  extreme  depression,  while  in 
some  species  of  Oreaster,  the  arms  are  very  much  dilated;, 
so  as  to  present  in  section  the  form  of  an  equilateral  tri- 
angle.    Among  the  sea-urchins  we  observe  similar  dif- 


*  Philosophical  Transactions,  1S49. 

+  Some  hold  that  the  Echlnodermata  possess  annnloso  or  articulate  characters.    W« 
bere  follow  the  views  usually  adopted  respecting  them. 


OF   EADIATA.  269 

ferences  ;  the  Echinus  Sphasra  is  remarkably  in  contrast 
with  the  depressed  form  of  the  Echinocyamus  pusillus. 
The  soft  and  vermiform  Holothurias  are  examples  of 
other  sub-types  of  the  Echinoderms  ;  still,  a  general  plan 
can  be  traced  in  all. 

In  star-fishes  and  urchins,  we  find  copious  deposits  of 
calcareous  matter  in  the  skin,  in  the  form  of  distinct 
plates.  M.  Graudry  has  very  fully  illustrated  the  general 
plan  which  regulates  this  part  of  their  organization.*  He 
has  shewn  that  the  protecting  armour  in  all  may  be  re- 
ferred to  three  systems  of  parts — the  endodermic  or 
internal,  the  dermic  or  intermediate,  and  the  epidermic 
or  superficial.  The  internal  system  is  absent  in  some. 
The  dermic  consists  of  four  systems  in  parts — the  ambu- 
lacra!, so  called  from  the  locomotive  function  of  the 
soft  appendages  which  pass  through  them  ;  the  inter- 
ambulacra!,  placed  between  the  former  series,  and  adding 
strength  and  solidity  to  the  whole  framework  ;  the  other 
two,  ovarian,  and  ana!  or  tergal  plates,  are  respectively 
connected  with  the  reproductive  and  digestive  systems. 
The  epidermic  part  of  the  armour  comprehends  all  those 
appendages  called  spines,  scales,  tubercles,  &c,  which 
he  shews  to  be  formed  after  a  common  plan. 

There  are,  moreover,  traces  of  unity,  when  we  examine 
the  minute  structure  of  the  plates  or  of  the  superficial 
appendages.  The  microscope  demonstrates  that  the 
hard  matter  consists  of  branches  disposed  vertically,  and 
connected  together  by  lateral  branches,  all  of  which  are 
referable  to  a  typical  form. 

But  while  the  Eadiate  law  generally  regulates  the 
external  form  (and  the  general  arrangement  of  certain 
internal  organs  as  well)  we  find  that  the  number  of  the 
radii  is  also  subject  to  law.      However  much  a  sea-star 

*  Annales  des  Sciences  Naturelles,  1S51. 


270  TYPICAL   FORMS 

seems  to  differ  from  a  sea-urchin,  the  number  five  pre- 
vails in  both.  The  question  was  long  ago  put  by  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  "  Why,  among  sea-stars,  Nature  chiefly 
delighteth  in  five  points  ?"  and  again,  "  By  the  same 
number  (live)  doth  Nature  divide  the  circle  of  the  sea- 
star,  and  in  that  order  and  number  disposeth  those  ele- 
gant semicircles  or  dental  sockets  and  eggs  in  the  sea 
hedgehog."  "Every  plate  of  the  sea-urchin,"  says  Pro- 
fessor E.  Forbes,  "is  built  up  of  pentagonal  particles. 
The  skeletons  of  the  digestive,  the  aquiferous,  and  tegu- 
mentary  systems,  equally  present  the  quinary  arrange- 
ment, and  even  the  hard  framework  of  the  disc  of  every 
sucker  is  regulated  by  this  mystic  number."* 

The  same  writer  remarks,  "  When  the  parts  of  Echino- 
derms  deviate  from  it  (five)  it  is  always  either  in  conse- 
quence of  the  abortion  of  certain  organs,  or  it  is  by  a 
variation  by  representation,  that  is  to  say,  by  the 
assumption  of  the  regnant  number  of  another  class. 
Thus  do  monstrous  star-fishes  and  sea-urchins  often  ap- 
pear quadrate,  and  have  their  parts  fourfold,  assuming 
the  reigning  number  of  Actinodermat a,  consistent  with 
a  law  in  which  I  put  firm  trust,  that  when  parallel 
groups  vary  numerically  by  representation,  they  vary  by 
interchange  of  their  respective  numbers." 

Four  is  the  number  which  generally  prevails  in  the 
Acalephs  or  sea-jellies.  In  Cyanasa,  for  example,  the 
stomach  is  usually  subdivided  by  four  ;  four  aasophageal 
tubes  are  continued  to  their  commencement,  which  is  in 
the  form  of  a  quadrate  mouth,  the  angles  being  prolonged 
into  four  tentacles.  Sixteen  canals  radiate  from  the 
central  cavities.f 

In  the  charming  Cydippe  of  our  own  seas,  the  same 

*  Forbes1  British  Star-fishes ;  Introduction, 
t  Owen's  Lectures  on  Invertebrata,  p.  165. 


OF    RADIATA. 


271 


quaternary  subdivision  of  the  digestive  system  prevails. 
Moreover,  the  cirri  by  which  it  makes  progression  in  the 
water,  are  arranged  along  eight  equidistant  bands. 

The  Actinas  or  sea-anemones,  not  merely  have  some 
general  resemblance  to  the  well-known  flower  after  which 
they  are  named,  but  we  find  remarkable  order  as  regards 
number  and  relative  position  of  organs,  such  as  we  have 
seen  to  prevail  in  plants.  M. 
Hollard  has  shewn  that  the 
concentrical  series  of  tentacula 
in  the  sea-anemone  are  subject 
to  a  law  of  alternation.  This 
is  well  illustrated  in  the  full- 
grown  Actinia  senilis,  the  four 
concentric  series  of  tentacles 
alternate  with  each  other,  and, 
as  regards  the  numbers  in  each, 
the  following  is  the  formula  : — 

10  +  10  +  20  +  40=80 
In  some  others  the  typical  number  is  six  or  a  multiple  of 
six.     Thus  there  are  twelve  tentacula  in  the  first  row  in 
Actinia  equina,  six  in  Actinia  pedunculata,  and  there 
are  four  rows  in  the  first  species,  and  five  in  the  second.f 


Fig.  59* 


SECTION   II.- 


-ADAPTATION    OF    RADIATE   TYPES    TO    THE 
MODE    OF    LIFE. 


Amid  the  general  adherence  to  the  Radiate  type,  we 
find  modifications  of  parts  in  reference  to  locomotion, 
prehension,  and  retention  of  food,  protection  from  external 
injury,  and  reproduction,  all  in  evident  accordance  with 
the  wants  of  the  animals. 

The  simple  Hydra  of  our  fresh  waters,  consisting  as  it 

*  Fin.  59.    Plan  of  Sea-a;iemone,  upper  surface.     The  center  circle  represents  the 
month.  The  smaller  circles  represent  the  tentacula  in  concentric  and  alternating  series, 
t  Annales  des  Sciences  Naturelles,  1851. 


272 


ADAPTATION    OF    RADIATE    TYPES 


does  of  little  more  than  stomach,  has,  in  the  position, 
arrangement,  and  properties  of  its  tentacula,  admirable 
means  of  securing  its  prey.  Its  habits,  and  the  adapta- 
tions of  its  organs,  have  been  so  often  and  so  fully  dis- 
cussed elsewhere,  that  we  need  not  dwell  on  the  subject 
here.*  We  merely  allude  to  it  in  the  outset  on  account 
of  its  relations  to  certain  others  of  which  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  type. 

The  little  Hydra  propagates  both  by  a  process  of  bud- 
ding and  by  the  formation  of  ova.  The  buds  sprout  out 
from  the  body  of  the  parent,  and  passing  through  various 
stages,  finally  become  detached  and  independent  beings, 

each  capable  of  produc- 
ing others  by  the  same 
process.  But  sometimes 
this  mode  of  reproduc- 
tion is  so  rapid,  that 
each  new  Hydra-bud  ac- 
tually has  buds  of  its  own 
before  it  quits  the  parent 
stock.  These  buds,  how- 
ever, finally  drop  off  and 
become  independent,  each 
forming  a  fresh  colony. 

The  same  mode  of 
budding  takes  place  in 
many  others  of  the  Hy- 
droida,  with  this  dif- 
ference, that  the  buds 
usually  remain  attached 
to  the  stock  or  parent. 


Fig.  60.t 


*  See  Trembley's  Memoirs;  Johnston's  British  Zoophytes,- &c. 

t  Fig.  60.  Hydra  fusca  propagating  by  buds,  a,  mouth  ;  5,  base  or  point  of  attach- 
ment, a  to  &,  the  original  animal  or  stock  from  which  the  young  or  buds  are  formed 
c,  point  of  origin  of  one  of  the  buds. 


TO   THE    MODE    OF    LIFE. 


273 


But  this  building  up  of  a  tree-polyp  could  not  proceed  to 
any  great  extent  if  all  polyps  were  entirely  of  the  same  soft 
texture  as  the  Hydra.  And  here  comes  in  a  modification 
to  which  we  owe  many  of 
those  varied  arborescent 
forms  with  which  the  ocean 
abounds.  Long  regarded 
as  plants  they  are  now  well 
known  to  be  compound 
Hydroida.  The  develop- 
ment of  hard  matter  on  the 
outside  serves  as  a  means  of 
protection  and  support,  in 
a  medium  liable  as  the  sea 
is  to  such  fluctuations  in  its 
condition.  The  soft  material 
which  pervades  the  centre  of 
the  hard  covering  is  just  a 
continuation  of  the  digestive 
system  of  the  polyps,  each 
of  which,  protected  in  its 
little  cell,  captures  food 
by  means  of  its  tentacula.  The  nourishment  thus  ob- 
tained contributes  to  the  growth  of  the  united  colony, 
furnishing  pabulum  for  the  formation  of  new  cells  and 
new  polyps.  But  there  is  another  mode  of  propagation. 
There  is  a  limit  to  the  increase  of  the  polyp-tree,  and 
necessity  for  the  establishment  of  new  colonies  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  parent.  There  appear  at  certain  periods 
in  the  life  of  the  Zoophyte,  cells  differing  in  form  and 
size   from   those   which  protect   the   individual   polyps. 


Fig.  61.* 


*  Fig.  61.  Campanularia  gelatinosa.  A,  fragment  natural  size;  B,  portion  enlarged; 
6,  young  polype-bud;  d,  adult  polype  in  its  horny  cell  e;  e,  transformed  branch  with 
mednsoid  buds  iu  different  stages. 

12* 


274 


ADAPTATION    OF    RADIATE    TYPE 


These  are  usually  known  by  the  names  of  ovigerous  vesi- 
cles. {Fig.  61,  e.)  The  late  Professor  E.  Forbes  has  de- 
monstrated that  these  vesicles  are  not  new  organs  differing 
in  their  nature  from  other  parts  of  the  organism,  but  that 
they  are  really  modifications  of  a  part  or  parts  for  a  special 
purpose.  "  The  vesicle  is  formed  from  a  branch  or  pinna, 
through  an  arrest  of  individual  development  by  a  short- 
ening of  the  spiral  axis,  and  by  a  transformation  of  the 
stomachs  (individuals)  into  an  ovigerous  placenta,  the 
dermato-skeletons  (or  cells)  uniting  to  form  a  projecting 
capsule  or  germen,  which  metamorphosis  is  exactly  com- 
parable with  that  which  occurs  in  the  reproductive  organs 
of  flowering  plants,  in  which  the  flower-bud  (normally  a 
branch  clothed  with  spirally  arranged  leaves)  is  consti- 
tuted through  the  contraction  of  the  axis,  and  the  whirl- 
ing of  the  (individual)  appendages  borne  on  that  axis, 
and  by  their  transformation  into  the  several  parts  of  the 
flower  (reproductive  organisms.)"* 

The  vesicles  are,  therefore,  branches  modified  for  a 
special  purpose  in  the  economy 
of  the  animal,  in  the  same  way 
as  we  have  seen  that  the  parts  of 
the  flower  in  plants  are  merely 
modifications  of  the  typical  ap- 
pendage (the  leaf )  arranged  upon 
a  shortened  axis.  In  some  in- 
stances special  buds  or  indivi- 
duals issue  from  the  vesicles,  be- 
coming detached  to  enjoy  for  a  time  an  independent 
existence,  for  which  they  are  accordingly  fitted  by  special 


Fig.  62.* 


*  Annals  of  Natural  nistory,  vol.  xiv.  1844. 

+  Fig.  62.  Medusoid  bud  (See  Fig.  61,  e)  of  Campanularia ;  it  swims  freely  in  the  water. 
a,  body;  b,  mouth;  c,  upper  surface;  d,  cirri.  It  is  believed  to  produce  ova,  which  are 
developed  intr>  a  Campanularia  stock. 


TO    THE    MODE    OF    LIFE. 


275 


modification.  Through  means  of  these  buds  the  true  re- 
productive process  by  ova  is  effected.  These  individuals 
when  fully  matured  are  flat  discs,  they  may  be  compared 
to  an  expanded  umbrella  with  a  short  stalk.  The  margin 
of  the  disc  is  provided  with  appendages,  by  which,  and  by 
its  own  contractile  powers,  the  organisms  move  and  dis- 
perse themselves  in  the  water.  They,  in  fact,  correspond 
to  the  flower  in  plants.  Their  organization  fits  them 
admirably  for  an  independent  existence,  and  for  dispers- 
ing the  ova  at  a  distance  from  the  parent  stock. 

The  sea-anemones  may  in  general  terms  be  compared 
to  a  jointless  cylin- 
der, the  extremities 
of  which  present 
two  distinct  modifi- 
cations in  accord- 
ance with  their  func- 
tion. The  base  or 
lower  end  is  that  by 
which  the  animal 
is  fixed  to  a  shell  or 
rock,  the  part  acting 
on  the  principle  of 
the  sucker,  but  ca- 
pable also  of  becom- 
ing    detached     and 

performing  lateral  progression  to  a  new  place  at  the  will 
of  the  animal.  The  free  end  of  the  body  presents  one  or 
more  radiate  series  of  hollow  tentacula  capable  of  pro- 
trusion or  retraction,  and  this  by  a  very  simple  mechan- 
ism, the  injection  or  expulsion  of  water.     When  fully  ex- 

*  Fig.  63.  To  show  form  and  structure  of  Actinia  or  sea-anemone,  a,  point  of  at- 
tachment or  ba?o;  b,  mouth,  c,  tentcula;  e,  stomach;  g  k,  partitions  or  vertical  plates 
ft,  passages  into  tentacula. 


Fig.  63.* 


270  ADAPTATION    OF    RADIATE    TYPE 

paneled,  these  tentacles  are  effectual  means  of  capturing 
and  retaining  prey,  and  of  conveying  it  to  the  central 
mouth.  This  opening  leads  by  a  short  canal  to  the  capa- 
cious stomach,  the  outer  surface  of  which  is  connected 
with  the  walls  of  the  body  by  a  number  of  radiating  ver- 
tical plates.  The  cells  formed  by  the  plates,  which  are 
muscular,  have  a  special  function  as  regards  the  protru- 
sion of  the  tentacula.  As  there  is  a  certain  order  in  the 
arrangement  of  these  organs,  we  find  corresponding  dis- 
tribution of  the  vertical  plates. 

In  our  native  species  of  Helianthoida,  reproduction^ 
by  ova  is  the  most  usual  mode  ;  reproduction -by  buds  is 
less  common.  But  in  many  of  the  varied  and  beauti- 
ful stone  corals  of  tropical  seas,  colonies  are  formed  by 
the  budding  process.  And  here  we  meet  with  interest- 
ing modifications  in  harmony  with  this  mode  of  increase, 
and  the  localities  where  the  animals  usually  occur.  A 
colony  of  soft  Actinias  could  not  attain  any  great  size, 
and  at  the  same  time  resist  the  destructive  influence  of  a 
turbulent  ocean.  The  species  of  Millepora,  Madrepora, 
3tc.,  so  well  known  to  navigators,  are  Helianthoida,  which 
have  the  peculiar  power  of  separating  carbonate  of  lime 
from  the  sea-water,  and  building  it  up  in  forms  which 
equally  astonish  us  by  their  size,  and  please  us  by  the 
beauty  of  their  details.  The  coral-builders,  it  is  well 
known,  thrive  best  in  the  surf  of  the  breakers,  and  their 
peculiarities  of  organization  fit  them  admirably  for  such 
localities.  In  many  of  them  we  find  calcareous  matter 
deposited  in  the  interstices  of  the  perpendicular  plates 
already  alluded  to,  which  afford  support  to  the  soft  parts, 
and  enable  them  to  resist  the  action  of  the  surrounding- 
medium  ;  the  sea>water,  at  the  same  time,  yields  to  them 
the  material  for  such  purpose.  In  former  epochs  of  the 
earth's  history,  as  well  as  in  our  own,  the  coral-builders 


TO    THE    MODE    OF    LIFE. 


277 


have  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  modify  the 
earth's  surface,  and  prepare  it  for  the  abode  of  higher 
animals. 

The  statements  already  made  regarding  the  compound 
Hydroida  and  their  detached  animal-flowers,  apply  also 
to  certain  of  the  Acalepha  or  sea-jellies. 

The  true  Medusae  commence 
their  existence  as  animals  resem- 
bling in  no  small  degree  the  com- 
mon fresh-water  polyp.  They 
multiply  for  a  time,  by  a  process 
of  budding,  and  the  final  effort 
is  to  produce  other  buds  which 
become  developed   into   the   full-  fig.64* 

grown  Medusae.  In  both  the  conditions  the  radiate 
type  is  retained,  but  in  each  kind  of  organism  there  is  a 
special  modification  in  accordance 
with  the  mode  of  life.  The  ordi- 
nary buds  are  modified  in  accord- 
ance with  their  sedentary  existence; 
one  end  forms  a  point  of  attach- 
ment, the  other  is  provided  with 
tentacula  for  the  capture  of  food. 
The  other  special  buds,  which  pass 
off  from  the  common  stock,  are  fitted 
for  independent  existence,  and  for 
progression  in  the  water ;  they  move 
from  place  to  place  by  the  un- 
dulations  of  the   umbrella-shaped   disc   and  the  action 


.^--■' 


*  Fin.  64.  Original  stock,  or  polype  condition  of  Medusa.  Shews  a  group  of  Ave,  four 
of  which  have  sprouted  as  buds  from  the  original  stock. 

t  Fig.  65.  Polyp  of  Medusa,  producing  young  Medusis.  a,  the  stock  or  body;  e,  a 
bud,  as  in  last  figure  ;  a,  tentacula  of  stock;  d,  young  Medusa,  (corresponds  to  flower-bud 
In  plants,)  with  its  tentacula  and  proboscis.    Tentacula,  c,  are  a  second  growth. 


278 


ADAPTATION    OF    RADIATE    TYPE 


of  marginal  appendages.    They  are  provided  with  a  diges- 
tive system,  and  organs  for  capturing  prey,  and,  finally, 

produce  abundance  of  ova, 
each  of  which  becoming  fixed 
to  a  rock  or  shell  forms 
a  polyp  stock,  and  gives 
origin  to  similarly  modified 
organisms. 

Among  Ecliinoderms,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  there 
is  remarkable  unity  amidst 
great  diversity  of  form  and 
consistence  of  parts.  This 
diversity  in  particular  cases 
has  an  evident  relation  to 
the  wellbeing  of  the  species. 
The  hard  covering  of  star- 
a  mailed  defence,  combining,  in  most 
instances,  strength  and  flexibility.  The  many  pieces 
(thousands)  of  which  it  consists  in  some  species,  are 
evidently  suited  for  both  the  functions  mentioned. 
While  the  ovarian  plates,  pierced  for  the  passage  of  the 
ova,  and  the  ambulacral,  giving  exit  and  support  to  the 
delicate  cirri,  respectively  occupy  important  relations  as 
regards  the  economy  of  the  animal. 

The  Comatula,  or  rosy  star  of  our  own  seas,  presents 
modifications  in  conformity  with  its  habits.  In  its  adult 
condition  it  can  cling  to  a  rock,  a  sea-weed,  or  a  coral,  by 
means  of  the  simple-jointed  arms  with  which  it  is  pro- 
vided for  that  purpose  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
large  pinnated  arms  may  be  used  for  free  progression  in 


fishes  constitutes 


*  Fig.  66.  Advanced  state  (Medusa)  of  d,  Fig.  65.  A,  side  view;  a,  proboscis;  &, 
lobes,  or  subdivisions  of  margin.  B,  upper  view  of  A,  shows  quadrilateral  mouth  in  the 
sontro. 


TO    THE    MODE    OF    LIFE.  279 

the  water.  In  striking  contrast  with  it  are  the  sluggish 
sea-urchins,  whose  protecting  spines  serve  both  for  pro- 
gression and  defence,  while  the  numerous  cirri  protruded 
from  the  openings  in  the  ambulacral  plates,  acting  on 
the  principle  of  the  sucker,  enable  the  animal  to  anchor 
itself,  or  when  occasion  requires,  to  move  up  a  perpen- 
dicular surface. 

The  Holotlmrias,  while  preserving  the  same  general 
radiate  type  in  certain  organs,  differ  in  this  respect  that 
their  body  is  elongated — approaching  the  vermiform — 
and  the  integuments  are  generally  soft.  They  present 
us  with  another  modification  adapting  them  for  a  dif- 
ferent mode  of  life.  Now  moving  by  the  suckers,  which 
protrude  from  the  pores  of  the  skin,  and  again  by  the 
extension  and  contraction  of  their  soft  bodies,  they  are 
fitted  for  localities  inaccessible  to  their  allies,  the  star- 
fishes and  sea-urchins. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NERVOUS,  VASCULAR,  AND  MUSCULAR  SYSTEMS. 

In  these  systems  of  parts  so  essential  to  the  animal 
economy,  we  may  expect  also  to  find  examples  of  types 
and  special  adaptations,  and  our  argument  would  be 
incomplete  without  some  reference  to  the  subject.  It 
must  not  he  supposed  that  the  brevity  with  which  we 
discuss  this  department  is  any  indication  of  its  inferior 
importance.  More  space  has  been  devoted  to  types  and 
modifications  in  the  internal  and  external  skeleton  and 
appendages,  because  we  believe  that  the  proofs  are  more 
easily  accessible  to  the  general  reader. 

NERVOUS    SYSTEM. 

The  presence  of  a  system  of  nerves  is  the  most  marked 
character  which  separates  the  animal  from  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  In  some  of  the  lower  forms,  its  existence  has 
not  been  clearly  demonstrated  ;  in  many  it  is  very  rudi- 
mentary. But  as  we  rise  higher  in  the  scale  we  find  an 
evident  advance,  commensurate  with  the  endowments  of 
the  animal. 

The  simplest  function  of  this  system  is  that  of  convey- 
ing an  impression  sufficient  to  excite  the  contraction  of 
muscular  tissue,  and  thus  effect  some  motion  in  an  organ 
or  its  parts.  The  impression  is  conveyed  by  one  set  of 
nervous  fibres  to  a  centre — a  ganglion,  and  from  this  it 


NERVOUS    SYSTEM.  281 

is  communicated  to  the  muscle,  which  is  thus  stimulated 
to  contract.  This  reflex  function  is  not  necessarily  ac- 
companied by  sensation,  and  the  movements  of  the  lower 
forms  of  animal  creation  appear  to  be  of  the  nature  just 
mentioned.  But  when  we  take  a  general  view  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  we  find  other  superadded  functions 
dependent  on  this  system  ;  "  it  is  the  instrument  of  con- 
sensual and  instinctive  actions,  of  mental  processes,  and 
of  voluntary  movements."* 

In  Mollusca,  the  typical  nervous  system  is  usually 
described  as  consisting  of  three  sets  of  nervous  centres 
or  ganglia  : — 1st,  cephalic,  supplying  the  eyes  and  other 
parts  about  the  head  and  mouth  ;  2d,  pedal,  supplying 
principally  the  foot  ;  3d,  parieto-splanchnic,  supplying 
the  walls  of  the  body,  the  heart  and  gills,  &c.  (See  Fig. 
45,  parts  marked  n.)  Now,  we  observe  modifications  of 
this  type  corresponding  to  the  development  of  the  dif- 
ferent organs,  and  the  necessities  of  the  animal.  In  dif- 
ferent mollusca,  where  the  foot  is  more  or  less  developed, 
we  observe  corresponding  development  of  the  pedal  gang- 
lion. 

In  the  Cephalopoda,  or  cuttle-fishes,  the  large  organs 
of  vision,  the  complicated  buccal  apparatus,  and  active 
movements,  are  all  in  relation  to  the  increase  of  nervous 
matter,  and  concentration  of  its  parts.  Professor  Sharpey 
has  further  shewn  an  interesting  modification  in  the 
nerves  of  the  arms  in  evident  harmony  with  the  habits 
of  these  cuttle-fishes.  Each  sucking  disc  (on  the  arms) 
is  connected  by  a  set  of  fibres  with  a  ganglionic  centre, 
while  all  the  ganglia  are  at  the  same  time  brought  into 
connexion  by  another  fibrous  tract  with  the  cephalic 
portion  of  the  nervous  system.  Each  sucker  can,  there- 
fore— by  reflex  action — attach  itself  to  any  body  which 

*  Carpenter's  Comparative  Physiology. 


282  NERVOUS    SYSTEM. 

touches  it,   while  all  are  also  under  the  control  of  the 
animal. 

In  Articulata,  the  typical  nervous  system  consists  of 
two  nervous  cords  running  parallel  to  each  other,  and 
connected  at  intervals  by  dilatations  or  ganglia  in  pairs. 
(See  Fig.  67.)  The  general  arrangement  is  such  that 
every  part  of  the  body  is  furnished  with  two  sets  of 
nervous  connexions  ;  one  of  these  is  with  the  ganglion 
of  its  own  segment,  and  another  with  the  cephalic  gang- 
lia. The  distribution  of  the  nervous  system  in  Articulata 
was  an  obvious  relation  to  the  general  arrangement  of  the 
hard  parts,  the  body,  as  we  have  seen,  being  composed  of 
homotypal  rings,  bearing  lateral  appendages  in  pairs. 
And  as  we  find  various  modifications  of  this  type  in  har- 
mony with  some  important  function,  we  also  find  corres- 
ponding modifications  in  the  nervous  system.  The  late 
Mr.  Newport,  to  whose  investigations  we  owe  so  much  in 
connexion  with  this  subject,  has  shewn  that  in  certain 
cases  there  is  an  enlargement  of  a  portion  of  the  nervous 
system  at  certain  points,  "  corresponding  to  the  apparent 
greater  necessity  for  accumulations  of  nervous  matter  at 
those  parts  of  the  cord/'  This  remark  is  generally  ap- 
plicable as  regards  the  ganglia  of  the  head,  the  arrange- 
ment being  evidently  in  direct  relation  to  the  functions 
of  the  important  appendages  of  that  part.  There  are, 
farther,  certain  local  modifications,  having  more  special 
connexion  with  the  appendicular  organs.  Mr.  Newport 
states,  regarding  the  nerves  which  supply  the  mandibles 
and  maxillae,  that  "union  of  those  nerves  at  their  base 
is  interesting  from  the  circumstance  that  during  mandu- 
cation  a  consentaneous  movement  of  the  parts  is  required, 
since,  while  the  mandibles  are  employed  in  chewing,  the 
maxilla?  are  also  employed  in  turning  and  assisting  to 
pass  the  food  into  the  pharynx." 


NERVOUS    SYSTEM. 


283 


The  concentration  of  the  nervous  matter  in  the  thorax 
is  evidently  a  modification  of  the  type  in  conformity  with 
the  presence  of  wings  and  legs,  the  active  appendages  of 
that  part  of  the  body.  t 
The  wings  require  the 
exercise  of  great  mus-  2  ' 
cular     effort     in     order  ^fyl:--' 

to    support    the    insect  3  '"""^^^^^^[f^^^^^l^ 
during   flight,    and   the        j'  -HHr"- 

distribution  of  the  ncr-  4  — .-r^pr^f^^ 

vous    matter   is   in   ac-  jjjv 

corclance  with  this  ne- 
cessity. But  there  must 
also  be  perfect  unison 
in  their  action,  and  this  c^-C2^ 

is  also  provided  for. 
Mr.    Newport    has    de-  — <^  •'■'aJjA 

monstrated    that    there  I-p^^Pr^E^ 

is   a   remarkable    pecu-  (WWo  ^ 

liarity  in  the  relations 
of  the  thoracic  ganglia 

V  I        1  >       I  , 

and  their  connecting 
fibres,  in   those   insects 

in  which  both  pairs  of  Fl(,_  6r  * 

wings   are   actively  con- 
cerned in  flight.    He  remarks,  "  that  this  is  the  reason  for 
this  curious  union  of  the  nerves  for  the  wings,  seems  ap- 
parent from  the  circumstance  that  it  exists  in  very  many 
tetrapterous  insects  of  rapid  or  powerful  flight,  as  in  the 

*  Fio.  67.  Nervous  system  of  pupa  of  Sphinx  Ugustvi,  composed  of  two  parallel  ner- 
vous cords,  for  the  most  part  joined  together  side  by  side,  and  connected  knots  of  ner- 
vous matter— ganglions.  The  two  larger  masses  and  branches  of  nervous  matter,  or  the 
upper  part,  supply  organs  in  the  head,  as  eyes,  jaws,  &c,  viz.,  1  and  2;  the  two  nervous 
masses  and  branches  succeeding  to  these  supply  the  wings  and  legs,  8  and  4.  The  re* 
maining  portions  are  more  uniform. 


284  NERVOUS    SYSTEM. 

Apiclse  and  Ichneumonidas  ;  while  in  others,  even  of  the 
same  order,  as  in  Athalia  centifolia?,  which  is  well  known 
to  fly  heavily  and  hut  a  short  distance,  there  is  no  such 
combination/'  In  farther  proof  of  the  reason  for  the  modi- 
fication alluded  to,  he  refers  to  the  Coleoptera,  in  which 
the  anterior  pair  of  wings  is  modified  to  protect  the  pos- 
terior during  repose.  These  anterior  wings  are  merely 
elevated,  and  nearly  motionless  during  flight.  Now,  in 
these  insects  "  the  nerves  are  derived  separately  from  the 
cord,  and  proceed  to  their  destination  without  being  first 
combined  in  a  nexus."* 

As  regards  Articulata  generally,  the  modifications  of 
the  typical  nervous  system  are  admitted  to  be  in  consis- 
tency with  the  functions  of  the  organs  to  be  supplied. 
The  larger  nerves  supply  the  organs  of  the  senses,  those 
of  secondary  size  go  to  the  voluntary  muscles,  and  the 
smallest  are  for  organs  concerned  in  automatic  motions. 
In  the  organs  of  the  senses,  the  size  of  the  nerves  appears 
to  be  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  density  of  the  agent, 
so  the  eyes  receive  the  largest.  The  size  is  also  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  complex  nature  of  homologous  organs 
in  different  species.f 

The  remarks  of  Dr.  Carpenter  are  so  much  to  the 
point  in  reference  to  this  part  of  our  subject,  that  we 
cannot  do  better  than  sum  up  in  his  words  : — "  In  Inver- 
tebrata,  the  nervous  system  consist  of  a  series  of  isolated 
ganglia,  connected  together  by  fibrous  trunks.  The 
number  of  these  ganglia,  and  the  variety  of  their  func- 
tion, depend  upon  the  number  and  variety  of  the  organs 
to  be  supplied.  In  the  lowest  Mollusca,  the  regulation 
of  the  ingress  and  egress  of  water  seems  almost  the  only 
function  to  be  performed  ;  and  here  we  have  but  a  single 

*  Cyclopifidia  of  Anatomy,  Art.  Tnsecta. 

t  Straus  Durckbeim,  Comparative  Anatomy  of  Articulata. 


NERVOUS    SYSTEM.  285 

ganglion.  In  the  star-fish  wo  have  five  or  more  gan- 
glia ;  but  they  are  all  repetitions  one  of  another,  and  are 
obviouslv  the  centres  of  action  to  the  several  segments 
to  which  they  respectively  belong,  neither  having  a  pre- 
dominance over  the  rest.  And  in  the  higher  Mollusca, 
and  in  Articulata,  we  have  a  ganglion,  or  more  com- 
monly a  pair  of  ganglia,  situated  at  the  anterior  extremity 
of  the  body,  connected  with  the  organs  of  special  sensa- 
tion, and  evidently  exerting  a  dominant  influence  over 
the  rest.  In  the  lower  Mollusca,  we  have  but  a  single 
ganglion  for  general  locomotion  ;  but  this  is  doubled 
laterally  and  repeated  longitudinally  in  the  Articulata, 
in  accordance  with  the  multiplication  of  their  locomotive 
organs,  so  as  to  form  the  ventral  cord.  In  like  manner, 
the  Mollusca  possess  a  single  ganglionic  centre  for  the 
respiratory  movements  ;  and  this  is  repeated  in  every 
segment  of  the  Articulata,  forming  a  chain  of  respiratory 
ganglia,  which  regulates  the  action  of  the  extensively- 
diffused  respiratory  apparatus  of  these  animals.  The 
acts  of  mastication  and  deglutition,  again,  in  both  sub- 
kingdoms,  are  immediately  dependent  upon  a  distinct  set 
of  ganglionic  centres,  which  are  connected,  however,  like 
the  preceding,  with  the  cephalic  ganglia.  And  wherever 
special  organs  are  developed,  whose  operations  depend  on 
muscular  contraction,  ganglionic  centres  are  developed  in 
immediate  relation  with  them ;  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
act  by  their  simple  reflex  power,  as  well  as  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  cephalic  ganglia,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
suckers  of  the  cuttle-fish."* 

From  what  has  been  stated,  wc  see  evidences  of  a 
common  plan,  with  numerous  special  modifications  neces- 
sary to  some  end  in  the  animal  economy.  In  Vertebrate 
animals,  we  find  a  very  obvious  correspondence  between 

*  Manual  of  Physiology,  p.  028. 


286  NERVOUS    SYSTEM. 

the  arrangement  of  the  bony  framework  and  the  distri- 
bution of  the  nervous  centres  ;  skull  and  spinal  column 
are  respectively  constructed  to  give  them  support  and 
protection. 

In  viewing  the  entire  animal  kingdom,  we  find  that 
we  cannot  compare  the  whole  of  the  well-developed  ner- 
vous system  in  the  higher  forms  with  that  of  the  lower  ; 
still  we  find,  in  the  nervous  system  of  the  Vertebrata, 
certain  parts  which  are  homologous  with  the  whole  of 
that  of  Invertebrata.  In  the  higher  Articulata,  the 
cephalic  ganglia  are  considered  homologous  with  a  series 
of  ganglia  forming  a  most  important  part  of  the  brain- 
mass  in  Vertebrata,  and  having  relation  to  certain  organs 
of  sense,  as  the  eye,  &c.  The  abdominal  nervous  cord 
in  Insects,  &c,  is  homologous  with  the  spinal  cord  of 
Vertebrata,  the  essential  difference  being  greater  con- 
densation of  parts  in  the  latter. than  in  the  former.  The 
superadded  portions  in  the  nervous  system  of  Vertebrata 
have  an  evident  respect  to  the  superior  endowments  of 
the  animal.  Cerebellum  and  cerebral  hemispheres  have 
no  distinct  representatives  among  the  Invertebrata  series. 

On  comparing  the  very  lowest  of  the  Vertebrata  with 
the  highest,  we  find  evident  difference  in  the  relative 
development  of  the  most  characteristic  parts  of  their 
cerebral  system.  The  lowest  forms  of  fishes  have  the 
hemispheres  of  the  brain  in  a  very  rudimentary  condi- 
tion, while  in  man  they  attain  their  highest  development. 
"  The  size  of  the  Cerebral  Hcmisjrfiercs  holds  a  close 
relation  with  the  increase  of  the  Intelligence,  and  with 
the  predominance  of  the  Will  over  the  involuntary  im- 
pulses. The  increased  size  of  the  cerebellum,  on  the 
other  hand,  seems  connected  with  the  necessity  which 
exists  for  the  adjustment  and  combination  of  the  loco- 
motive powers,  when  the  variety  in  the  movements  per- 


NERVOUS    SYSTEM.  287 

formed  by  the  animal  is  great,  and  a  more  perfect  har- 
mony is  required  among  them."* 

Such  being  the  functions  of  brain  and  cerebellum,  we 
may  expect  to  find  modifications  consistent  with  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  animal.  The  size  of  the  cerebellum  dif- 
fers very  much  in  the  class  of  fishes  ;  but  its  development 
appears  generally  to  be  in  direct  proportion  to  the  active 
powers  of  the  animal.  "Thus  it  is  very  small  in  the  lazy 
lump-fish,  and  extremely  large  in  the  active  and  warm- 
blooded Tunny/'f  In  the  Lampreys,  whose  mouth  acts 
on  the  principle  of  the  sucker,  so  that  they  can  attach 
themselves  to  their  prey  and  devour  it  at  leisure,  we  find 
that  the  cerebellum  is  relatively  small.  Whereas,  in  the 
active  and  predacious  sharks,  it  is  of  great  size  ;  these 
Felidas  of  the  ocean  have  no  swim -bladder,  and  their 
mouths  being  placed  transversely  beneath  the  snout,  they 
require  peculiar  and  active  movements  of  the  whole  body 
for  securing  and  overcoming  the  struggles  of  the  resisting 
prey.  This  conformity  of  the  development  of  the  cere- 
bellum to  the  peculiar  habit  of  the  animal  is  equally 
illustrated  in  the  class  of  Reptiles.  Their  habits  are 
generally  inert,  and  the  cerebellum  is  proportionately 
small.  The  very  reverse  is  true  of  birds — characterized 
by  the  variety  and  power  of  their  muscular  movements. 

We  have  already  seen  that  in  Articulata  there  are 
local  adaptations  of  the  nervous  system,  co-ordinate  with 
the  functions  of  the  parts  supplied  by  it.  In  the  homo- 
logous part — the  spinal  cord — of  the  vertebrata,  we  find 
similar  harmony.  In  certain  reptiles  we  find  this  corre- 
lation very  obvious.  In  the  serpent  the  absence  of  limbs 
is  accompanied  with  a  remarkable  uniformity  of  the  spinal 
cord  and  the  nerves  given  off  from  it.      On  the  other 

*  Carpenters  Manual  of  Physiology,  p.  530. 

■(  Owen's  Lectures  on  Comparative  Anatomy,  vol.  ii.,  p.  176. 


288  VASCULAR    SYSTEM. 

band,  in  the  frog,  whose  hind  limbs  are  highly  developed 
and  of  great  comparative  muscular  •  power,  we  find  cor- 
responding enlargement  of  lower  part  of  the  nervous  cord. 
Two  enlargements  occur  in  the  spinal  cord  of  birds, 
one  corresponds  to  the  wings,  the  other  to  the  legs.  As 
might  be  expected,  these  enlargements  generally  present 
differences  of  relative  size,  corresponding  to  the  different 
relative  development  and  powers  of  the  anterior  and 
posterior  extremities.  The  posterior  enlargement  is 
greater  than  the  anterior  in  the  Struthious  birds  (ostrich, 
&c.)  in  which  the  whole  function  of  progression  is  effected 
by  the  posterior  extremities.  In  contrast  with  this,  we 
observe  that  in  birds  of  powerful  flight,  the  greatest  en- 
largement of  the  nervous  matter  corresponds  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  wings. 

VASCULAR    SYSTE1I. 

Our  remarks  under  this  head  will  be  confined  to  the 
highest  animals,  viz.,  mammals  and  birds.     In  them  we 

O  7  7 

find  a  highly  developed  system  of  vessels  for  distributing 
the  products  of  digestion,  removing  certain  materials 
derived  from  the  waste  of  the  animal  frame,  and  supply- 
ing the  system  with  oxygen  gas.  These  two  latter  func- 
tions are  in  intimate  relation  to  a  surface  or  organ  for 
respiration. 

The  central  organ  of  circulation — the  heart — presents 
the  same  structure  in  mammals  and  birds,  and,  generally 
speaking,  the  blood-vessels  are  distributed  according  to 
a  plan  which  is  common  to  both.  Of  the  four  cavities 
of  which  the  heart  consists,  two  are  set  apart  for  the 
purpose — the  one  receives,  the  other  propels — of  trans- 
mitting the  dark-coloured  or  venous  blood  to  the  lungs, 
for  the  purpose  of  respiration. 

Such  are  the   functions  of  the  cavities  on  the  righl 


VASCULAR    SYSTEM  289 

side,  constituting  the  respiratory  heart.  Of  the  two  on 
the  left  side,  one  receives  and  the  other  propels  the  blood 
— arterial — which  has  been  oxygenated  in  the  lungs. 

"We  have  already  pointed  out  the  harmony  between 
the  development  and  distribution  of  nervous  matter,  and 
the  necessity  for  variety  and  force  of  muscular  effort. 
But  nerves  and  muscles  cannot  perform  their  respective 
functions  without  a  supply  of  oxygen.  Now  such  co-ordi- 
nation of  parts  is  clearly  illustrated  by  some  peculiarities 
in  the  arterial  system  of  birds.  The  large  muscles  called 
pectoral,  (from  their  position  on  the  breast)  which  are 
chiefly  concerned  in  the  movements  of  the  wings,  are 
supplied  by  arteries  of  great  magnitude,  "  which,  instead 
of  being  inconsiderable  branches  of  the  axillary  artery,  are 
the  continuations  of  the  trunk  of  the  subclavian,  of  which 
the  humeralis  only  a  branch."* 

Another  adaptation  in  the  arterial  system  of  birds  we 
shall  allude  to  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Carpenter: — "In 
most  Mammalia,  as  in  Man,  the  right  anterior  extremity 
is  more  directly  supplied  with  blood  from  the  aorta  than 
the  left ;  so  that  the  superior  strength  and  activity  of 
this  limb  would  seem  to  be  not  altogether  the  result  of 
habit  and  education,  as  some  have  supposed.  In  birds, 
however,  where  any  inequality  in  the  powers  of  the  two 
wings  would  have  prevented  the  necessary  regularity  in 
the  actions  of  flight,  the  aorta  gives  off  its  branches  to 
the  two  sides  with  perfect  equality."f 

Among  the  mammalia,  also,  we  find  singular  departures 
from  type  in  order  to  accomplish  a  special  end.  We 
have  already  alluded  to  the  habits  of  the  sloth,  and  the 
remarkable  provisions  in  the  structure  of  the  skeleton. 
The  distribution  of  the  vessels  in  its  fore  and  hind  limbs 

*  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy,  Art.  Aves,  p.  .534. 
+  Principles  of  Comparative  Physiology,  p.  264. 

13 


290  VASCULAR    SYSTEM. 

is  admitted  to  be  a  modification  of  the  general  ptan 
suited  to  the  habits  of  the  animal.  The  arteries  which 
supply  the  fore  and  hind  limbs  are  subdivided  into  a 
number  of  branches,  of  nearly  equal  size,  which  commu- 
nicate laterally  with  each  other,  and  are  exclusively  dis- 
tributed to  the  muscles.  Those  which  supply  the  bones 
and  other  parts,  present  no  such  peculiarity.  The  effect 
of  such  distribution  of  the  arteries  will  be  to  diminish  the 
velocity  with  which  the  blood  flows  to  the  parts.  The 
peculiar  arrangement  is  admitted  to  have  a  relation  to 
the  slow  movements  of  the  animals,  though  it  may  not 
be  easy  to  say  "  whether  such  slow  movements  of  the 
blood  sent  to  the  muscles  be  a  subordinate  convenience 
to  other  primary  causes  of  their  slow  contraction,  or 
whether  it  be  itself  the  immediate  or  principal  cause."* 

The  celebrated  John  Hunter  long  ago  pointed  out  a 
remarkable  distribution  of  the  vascular  system  in  the 
whales,  an  evident  provision  in  conformity  with  their 
power  of  diving  and  remaining  for  a  time  under  water. 
Their  arterial  system  is  characterized  by  extensive  net- 
works of  vessels,  chiefly  distributed  over  the  walls  of  the 
chest.  "  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  singular  compli- 
cation of  vessels  is  caused  by  the  necessity  in  which  the 
Cetacea  are  often  placed  of  suspending  their  respiration, 
and  consequently  the  oxygenation  of  their  blood  during 
a  considerable  time.  These  numerous  arteries  form, 
therefore,  a  reservoir  of  oxygenated  blood,  which,  re- 
entering the  circulation,  supports  life  throughout,  where 
venous  blood  would  only  produce  death/'f 

We  may  now  briefly  allude  to  adaptations  in  the  ves- 
sels which  carry  dark-coloured  or  venous  blood.  The 
typical  venous   system  of  the  mammalia,  according  to 

*  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy,  Art.  Edentata. 
t  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy,  Art.  Cetacea. 


RESPIRATORY   SYSTEM.  291 

Rathke,  consists  of  four  lateral  primitive  trunks.  We 
have  just  stated  a  peculiarity  in  the  arterial  system  of 
the  whales  ;  the  same  animals  present  also  a  special 
modification  of  the  venous  system  in  evident  adaptation 
to  their  habits.  The  extensive  net-Works  of  veins  in  the 
interior  of  the  chest  and  abdomen,  serve  as  reservoirs  of 
blood  highly  charged  with  carbonic  acid,  the  accumula- 
tion of  which  in  the  right  side  of  the  heart  would  occasion 
death.  The  suspension  of  respiration  during  the  act  of 
diving,  renders  such  co-ordination  of  parts  absolutely 
necessary. 

As  connected  with  this  subject,  we  may  allude  to  a 
peculiarity  of  the  veins  of  the  bat's  wing,  described  by 
Professor  Jones.  The  wall  of  these  vessels  are  endowed 
with  a  power  of  rhythmical  contraction  and  dilatation, 
which,  in  the  natural  state,  is  continually  going  on  at  the 
rate  of  seven  to  thirteen  in  a  minute.  This  contractile 
power,  "  supported  by  the  presence  of  valves,  is  called 
forth  to  promote  the  flow  of  blood  in  the  wings,  which, 
on  account  of  their  extent,  are,  as  regards  their  circula- 
tion, in  a  considerable  degree,  though  not  entirely,  be- 
yond the  sphere  of  the  heart's  influence."* 

RESPIRATORY    SYSTEM. 

We  shall  only  briefly  refer  to  type  and  modifications 
in  this  department.  Allusion  has  already  been  made  to 
the  necessity  for  oxygenation  of  the  blood,  and  the  re- 
moval of  the  carbonic  acid  which  accumulates  in  it  dur- 
ing its  course  through  the  system.  In  the  warm-blooded 
animals,  whose  temperature  is  generally  higher  than  that 
of  the  medium,  air  or  water,  which  surrounds  them,  there 
is  another  requisite,  viz.,  the  power  of  keeping  up  such 
temperature  by  the  combination  of  oxygen  with  materials 

*  Philosophical  Transactions,  Part  I.,  1852. 


*292  RESPIRATORY    SYSTEM. 

supplied  by  the  food,  a  process  which  is  really  a  kind  of 
combustion. 

In  many  of  the  lower  animals  there  are  no  special  or- 
gans for  respiration,  the  fluids  of  the  tissues  being  suffi- 
ciently  aerated  through  the  medium  of  their  own  walls, 
or  of  the  general  external  covering  of  the  body.  When, 
however,  special  organs  for  respiration  are  provided,  they 
are  admitted  to  be  all  mere  modifications  of  one  plan, 
viz.,  a  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  body  of  more  delicate 
texture  than  the  rest,  and  permitting  the  atmospheric  air 
to  pervade  the  parts,  and  come  in  contact  with  the  nu- 
merous vessels  with  which  the  organ  is  provided.  Such 
is  the  common  plan  on  which  both  lungs  for  aerial  and 
gills  for  aquatic  respiration  are  constructed. 

Hitherto,  in  treating  of  types  and  modifications,  we 
have  spoken  of  homological  organs  ;  but  in  examining 
the  respiratory  system,  wTe  have  to  do  with  some  which 
are  analogous,  but  not  necessarily  homologous,  that  is  to 
say,  similar  in  their  function,  but  frequently  different  in 
their  nature.  Nevertheless,  it  appears  that  in  this  view 
also  there  are  arrangements  bearing  on  our  subject. 
Generally  speaking,  gills  and  lungs  are  respectively  in 
singular  conformity  with  the  different  media  inhabited 
by  the  animals.  Gills  are  usually  extensions  of  some 
part  or  other  of  the  external  surface  of  the  body,  and 
being  necessarily  in  contact  with  the  water  which  yields 
the  air  requisite  for  the  performance  of  the  function  of 
respiration,  complex  arrangements  of  organs  are  less  re- 
quisite, more  especially  since  the  general  surface  of  the 
body  takes  a  part  likewise  in  the  act  of  respiration.  In 
reptiles,*  in  birds,  and  mammals,  the  respiratory  surface 
is  internal,  and  the  whole  apparatus  is  more  complicated, 

*  Certain  reptiles  begin  life  with  gills,  and  some,  even  when  mature,  have  both  gills 
»nd  lungs. 


RESPIRATORY 'SYSTEM.  293 

and  there  are  adaptations  of  various  organs  for  perform- 
ing the  acts  of  inspiration  and  expiration. 

We  have  said  that  respiratory  organs  are  not  neces- 
sarily homologous,  and  in  connexion  with  this,  we  find  a 
remarkable  instance  of  departure  from  a  plan,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  necessities  of  the  animal.  The  gills  of  fishes 
are  not  of  the  same  nature  as  the  lungs  of  other  Vertebrata, 
still  the  latter  organs  have  their  homologues  in  the  fish, 
but  they  assume  a  new  function,  and  one  which  is  admi- 
rably suited  to  the  wants  of  the  animal.  The  sound-blad- 
der, swim-bladder,  or  air-bladder  (for  it  has  all  these 
names)  by  which  certain  fishes  can  regulate  their  depth  in 
the  water,  is  a  rudimentary  lung  turned  to  a  new  purpose. 

Finally,  whatever  be  the  modification  of  the  respira- 
tory system,  there  is  general  adaptation  to  the  nature  of 
the  medium  and  the  wellbeing  of  the  animal.  The  gills 
of  fishes  require  no  powerful  efforts  to  bring  fresh  sup- 
plies of  water,  and  thus  there  is  room  for  greater  expen- 
diture of  muscular  force  in  swift  progression  through  the 
medium  they  inhabit.  Internal  extension  of  respiratory 
surface,  well  protected  from  external  injury,  is  just  such 
a  provision  as  is  most  conducive  to  the  comfort  of  the 
mammal.  The  whale,  living  in  water,  yet  breathing  by 
lungs,  has  arrangements,  in  the  form  of  its  tail  and  in 
the  position  of  its  nostrils,  which  enable  it  to  rise  to  the 
surface  with  ease,  and  get  fresh  supplies  of  necessary  air. 
The  wide  diffusion  of  air  from  the  lungs  through  the  soft 
parts  and  bones  of  the  bird,  all  directly  co-operate  to 
facilitate  ascent  in  the  air,  by  diminishing  the  relative 
weight  of  the  body. 

In  Articulata,  we  find  homologous  parts  concerned  in 
respiration,  but  acting  through  different  media.  In  some 
of  the  lower  aquatic  forms,  the  water- vascular  system  is 
homologous  with  the  branched  vessels  of  insects,  which 


294  MUSCULAR    SYSTEM. 

are  adapted  for  aerial  respiration.  In  both  instances  the 
arrangement  is  suited  to  the  necessities  of  the  indi- 
viduals ;  the  extensive  distribution  of  the  air-vessels  in 
the  perfect  insect  being  in  correspondence  with  the  power 
of  flying,  by  reason  of  the  diminished  specific  gravity  of 
the  animal  consequent  on  the  very  free  access  which  the 
air  has  been  to  every  part. 

MUSCULAR    SYSTEM. 

In  this  as  in  other  departments,  there  is  still  much  to  be 
accomplished  as  to  our  knowledge  of  a  plan,  and  of  modi- 
fications. The  few  observations  which  we  have  to  offer 
will  be  confined  to  vertebrate  animals.  The  general 
arrangement  of  the  muscular  system  corresponds  very 
much  to  the  form  of  the  skeleton.  The  greater  or  less 
flexibility  of  the  vertebral  column,  the  size  of  the  limbs, 
the  mode  of  progression,  whether  in  water,  in  the  air,  or 
on  the  ground,  all  imply  greater  or  less  peculiarities  of 
this  system.  The  idea  of  general  correspondence  with  a 
type  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  nomenclature  adopted  in 
describing  the  muscles  of  at  least  the  three  higher  classes 
of  Vertebrata,  viz.,  mammals,  birds,  and  reptiles.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  principal  groups  admitted  by 
anatomists  : — muscles  of  the  shin,  of  the  spine  and  head. 
of  ribs,  and  ivalls  of  abdomen  and  chest,  of  limbs,  of  the 
lower  jaiv,  of  voice,  eye,  &c. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  skin,  and  lying  beneath 
it  there  is  a  layer  of  muscular  fibre  in  all  Vertebrata — 
with  the  exception  of  certain  reptiles  where  it  is  unneces- 
sary, owing  to  the  development  of  hard  matter  in  the 
skin,  and  its  consequent  inflexibility. 

At  different  parts  of  the  body  in  the  same  animal,  we 
find  local  modifications  evidently  suited  to  some  peculiar 
end  in  the  economy.    Such  tegumentary  muscles  are  in- 


MUSCULAK   SYSTEM.  295 

tended  to  act  either  on  the  skin  itself,  or  on  some  of  the 
appendages  which  arise  from  it. 

Among  fishes,  tegumentary  muscles  appear  in  connec- 
tion with  the  dorsal  and  other  fins,  which  can  be  thus 
elevated  or  depressed  according  to  necessity,  either  for 
defence  or  offence,  or  as  balances  or  partial  aids  in  aquatic 
progression. 

In  the  class  of  birds,  the  muscles  of  the  integument 
frequently  attain  a  high  degree  of  development.  In  the 
Apteryx  of  New  Zealand  they  are  of  great  strength — a 
provision  of  the  utmost  importance,  because  its  habits 
expose  it  to  accumulation  of  soil  about  its  feathers,  which 
must  be  shaken  with  some  force  in  order  to  dislodge  it. 
But  there  are  bundles  of  small  muscles  connected  with 
the  quill  portion  of  the  feathers.  In  some  of  the  web- 
footed  species  each  feather  has  four  or  five  small  muscles 
specially  intended  to  move  it  in  different  directions.  In 
the  Gannet  it  has  been  calculated  that  there  are  about 
3000  feathers  provided  with  such  muscles,  the  total  num- 
ber of  which  will  therefore  not  fall  short  of  10,000  or 
12,000.  It  is  by  means  of  such  skin-muscles  that  the 
cockatoo  elevates  or  depresses  its  crest,  and  the  turkey- 
cock  bristles  up  his  feathers.  There  are  numerous  oc- 
casions on  which  these  and  other  special  arrangements 
of  the  cutaneous  muscles  are  needful  in  the  economy  of 
the  bird,  and  essential  to  its  comfort. 

The  peculiar  shield-like  scales  on  the  belly  of  serpents 
are  put  in  motion  by  muscles  which  belong  to  the  cu- 
taneous system,  and  are  thus  fitted  to  aid  in  progres- 
sion over  a  rough  surface. 

In  Mammalia,  we  find  greater  or  less  modification  of 
the  same  system  in  conformity  with  the  habits  of  the 
animal.  The  quills  of  the  porcupine  and  of  the  hedge- 
hog are  set  in  motion  by  similar  cutaneous  muscles,  and 
the  latter  animal  presents  an  additional  arrangement 


296 


MUSCULAR    SYSTEM. 


Fie.  6S  * 


in  other  muscles  of  the  same  part,  by  which  it  can  roll 

itself  into  a  ball,  and  thus 
present  a  surface  bristling 
with  formidable  spines. 

In  other  parts  of  the 
muscular  system,  while 
there  is  conformity  to  a 
\  general  plan,  we  also  meet 
I  with  local  modifications. 
J  The  very  large  proportion 
which  active  voluntary 
muscles  bear  to  the  whole 
body,  requires  not  only 
proper  adaptation  to  their 
uses,  but  also  such  pecu- 
liar packing  and  arrange- 
ment as  may  be  most  conducive  to  the  comfort  and  well- 
being  of  the  animal.  We  do  not  find  the  same  propor- 
tional distribution  of  muscle  in  whales,  in  fishes,  in 
birds,  and  in  swift-footed  mammals.  In  birds,  for  ex- 
ample, "the  principal  masses  of  muscle  being  collected 
below  the  centre  of  gravity,  beneath  the  sternum,  beneath 
the  pelvis,  and  upon  the  thighs,  act  like  the  ballast  of  a 
vessel,  and  assist  in  maintaining  the  steadiness  of  the 
body  during  night ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  extre- 
mities require  only  long  and  thin  tendons  for  the  com- 
munication of  the  muscular  influence  to  them,  and  are 
thereby  rendered  light  and  slender."f 

The  great  importance  of  the  hand  in  man,  and  the 
special  development  of  his  first  digit,  the  thumb,  imply 
a  correspondingly  perfect  system  of  muscles  in  the  limb. 
In  the  apes,  which  approach  him  nearest,  the  digits  are 
endowed  with  less  individual  mobility,  and  there  is  corre- 

*  Fig.  68.  Shows  muscular  apparatus  by  which  the  hedgehog  rolls  Itself  into  a  ball, 
t  Owen,  Cyclopedia  of  Anatomy,  Art.  Aves. 


MUSCULAR    SYSTEM.  297 

spending  departure  from  the  muscular  type.  These 
animals  are  destitute  of  the  power  of  appointing  or  indicat- 
ing by  means  of  the  fore-finger,  and  man  alone,  who  has 
this  faculty,  possesses  a  distinct  muscle  for  its  perform- 
ance. The  muscle  homologous  with  that  called  latis 
simus  dorsi  in  man,  gives  off  in  the  apes  a  slip  which  is 
attached  to  the  elbow  part  of  the  ulna  (the  innermost  of 
the  two  bones  of  the  fore-arm).  This  modification  is  es- 
pecially obvious  in  the  long-armed  species,  and  enables 
them  to  sling  the  arm  forwards  with  great  force  and 
quickness,  by  which  they  are  better  fitted  to  grasp  distant 
branches  during  their  more  rapid  acts  of  climbing. 

The  singularly  modified  nostrils  of  the  elephant,  con- 
stituting its  trunk,  present  modifications  of  size,  as  well 
as  of  relation  in  homologous  muscles  which  are  of  less 
general  importance  in  other  mammalia.  The  levator 
and  zygomatic  muscles  of  the  upper  lip  are  very  large, 
and  incorporated  with  those  of  the  prolonged  nostrils — 
arrangements  which  are  admitted  to  be  commensurate 
with  the  important  functions  of  the  parts.  In  hoofed 
animals,  fitted  for  rapid  progression,  the  extensor  muscles 
of  the  limbs  are  more  powerful  than  their  opposing 
flexors,  the  tendons  also  are  long,  the  muscular  portion 
being  short  but  strong — a  modification  suited  to  their 
habits.  When  treating  of  the  typical  form  of  the  verte- 
bral elements,  we  have  alluded  to  the  singularly  modified 
arm-bone  of  the  mole,  a  departure  from  the  type  in  dis- 
tinct relation  to  the  no  less  remarkable  arrangement  of 
powerful  muscles  in  the  limb,  so  necessary  to  the  burrow- 
ing habits  of  the  animal. 

The  habits  of  that  remarkable  bird,  the  cross-bill, 
(Loxia  curvirostra)  render  necessary  certain  modifica- 
tions in  the  muscles  of  its  jaws.  Feeding  on  the  seeds 
of  firs,  it  requires  an  apparatus  to  extract  them  from  the 
hard  and  tough  scales  of  the  cones.     The  jaws  cross  each 


298  MUSCULAK    SYSTEM. 

other,  and  act  much  in  the  same  way  as  the  blades  of 
scissors.  We  find  a  want  of  symmetry  in  the  muscles 
on  the  two  sides  of  the  jaws,  and  this  has  constant  re- 
lation to  the  position  of  parts.  In  a  state  of  rest,  the 
lower  mandible  is  drawn  to  one  side  or  the  other — for 
there  is  a  difference  in  this  respect  in  different  indi- 
viduals. Now,  the  muscles  are  strongest  upon  that  side 
to  which  the  jaw  is  so  directed,  and  being  of  great 
strength,  the  animal  is  thus  provided  with  an  apparatus 
which  enables  it,  with  case  and  rapidity,  to  cut  up  the 
tough  cones  and  disengage  the  seeds.  Perching  birds 
present  a  curious  adaptation,  by  which  the  act  of  bending 
the  knee  and  ankle  necessitates  also  bending  of  the  toes, 
independently  of  any  active  effort ;  they  can  thus  grasp 
a  branch  even  while  sleeping.  They  are  enabled  to  do 
this  by  a  peculiar  disposition  of  the  tendon  of  a  muscle, 
which  is  the  homologue  of  that  called  gracilis*  in  mam- 
malia. This  muscle  passes  over  the  convex  part  of  the 
knee-joint,  and  then  over  the  projecting  portion  of  the 
heel,  and  ends  by  being  connected  with  a  flexor  muscle 
of  the  toes.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  digits  must 
bend  simultaneously  with  the  bending  of  the  knee  and 
ankle  when  the  birds  fall  into  sleep.  In  other  parts  of 
birds  we  observe  certain  muscles  differently  modified  for 
different  purposes.  Thus,  generally  speaking,  those  on 
the  upper  part  of  the  tail  are  more  highly  developed  than 
those  on  the  lower  surface  ;  by  such  arrangement  it  is 
that  the  peacock  expands  his  gaudy  tail  feathers.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  find  in  some  species  that  the  muscles 
which  depress  the  tail  are  the  strongest.  This  is  well 
illustrated  in  wood-peckers,  which  use  that  part  as  an 
additional  means  of  support  when  climbing,  by  pressing 
it  strongly  against  the  bole  of  the  tree. 

*  Meckel  considers  it  homologous  with  the  muscle  called  Rectus  femoris ;  this,  how- 
ever does  not  affect  the  importance  and  singularity  of  the  modification  alluded  to. 


CHAPTER   X. 

COMMt  N1TY    OF    PLAN,    WITH     SPECIAL     ADAPTATIONS     IN    THE 
DEVELOPMENT    OF    ORGANIZED    BEINGS. 

Preceding  observations  have  been  confined  to  plan 
and  modifications  of  perfect  adult  organisms.  It  will  be 
necessary,  in  order  to  complete  the  argument,  to  glance 
at  tbe  co-existence  of  the  same  two  principles  in  the  em- 
bryonic condition  of  plants  and  animals.  The  nature  of 
the  topic  and  its  extent,  obviously  preclude  its  full  dis- 
cussion in  this  treatise  ;  but  an  epitome  of  some  of  its 
leading  truths  will  be  found  to  fit  in  with  what  has  gone 
before,  and  with  what  is  to  follow. 

If  we  enter  a  large  ship-yard  (to  borrow  an  illustra- 
tion from  a  friend)  we  may  be  able  to  discover  a  com- 
munity of  plan  in  the  materials  gathered  together  and 
cut  out  for  use,  and  in  the  very  first  blocking  out  of  every 
vessel.  But  it  is  as  the  fabric  advances  that  we  begin  to 
detect — what,  however,  was  all  along  known  to  the 
builder — what  is  the  special  purpose  for  which  the  ship  is 
intended  ;  whether  it  is  to  be  propelled  by  sails  or  by  steam  ; 
whether  it  is  meant  for  warlike  or  peaceful  occupations  ; 
whether  it  is  to  carry  articles  of  commerce  or  passengers. 
We  are  to  show  that  it  is  the  same  in  organic  nature. 
Every  plant  and  animal  is  formed  after  a  general  plan, 
while  it  is  intended  all  along  by  its  Maker  for  a  special 
and,  and  no  other  ;  but  it  is  only  as  it  advances  that  we 


300    COMMUNITY  OF  PLAN,  WITH  SPECIAL  ADAPTATIONS. 

can  discover  that  end.  We  are  to  show  that  there  is  a 
close  resemblance  between  the  foundation  structure,  or 
earliest  rudiment,  of  all  plants  and  animals  ;  we  are  to 
show  that  as  the  structures  advance,  each  takes  its  peculiar 
form  to  suit  it  to  its  evidently  predetermined  end  ;  and 
we  are  to  show,  at  the  same  time,  that  there  is  a  remark- 
able parallelism  in  the  development  of  organic  beings, 
and  this  along  the  whole  separate  lines  of  their  progress. 

At  an  early  part  of  our  work  we  pointed  out  the  iden- 
tity of  cell  material  in  all  organized  beings.  The  germs 
of  every  animal  and  plant  present  to  us  unmistakable 
evidence  of  conformity  to  a  model.  The  embryonal 
vesicle  of  the  animal,  and  the  embryonic  cell  in  the 
plant,  are  obviously  similar.  Our  remarks  will  be  chiefly 
confined  to  the  former,  as  best  fitted  to  illustrate  the  two 
principles  which  are  occupying  our  attention. 

In  plants,  the  contents  of  one  peculiar  cell  (the  pollen 
grain)  applied  to  the  embryonic  cell,  determine  all  future 
changes  of  the  latter.  Subdivision  of  the  above-named 
cell  (embryonic)  takes  place  ;  the  same  goes  on  with  con- 
secutive cells  ;  these  increase  at  the  expense  of  the  pabu- 
lum supplied  by  the  ovule,  and  the  result  of  the  process 
is  the  formation  of  cotyledons,  of  rudimentary  stem,  of 
root,  and  of  leaves. 

The  structure  of  the  ovum  of  the  animal  is  very  simple  ; 
it  consists  of  a  sac  containing  yolk,  in  the  midst  of  which 
there  lies  the  embryonal  vesicle  which  is  essentially  a 
cell.  This  becomes  filled  with  a  mass  of  smaller  cells,  to 
which  it  finally  gives  exit  as  a  preparation  for  the  process 
of  fecundation  :  after  which  a  new  cell,  a  primordial, 
undergoes  a  change  like  that  which  follows  the  applica- 
tion of  the  contents  of  the  pollen  to  the  vegetable  germ. 
This  primordial  cell  begins  to  multiply  by  self-division, 
until,  from  a  single  cell,  we  find  that  an  aggregate  mass 


IN    THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    ORGANIZED    BEINGS.       301 

of  minute  cells  has  been  produced.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  here,  that  as  the  cells  forming  the  simpler  plants 
increase  by  subdivision,  according  to  a  fixed  law  as  regards 
number,  viz.,  2,  4,  8,  16.  &c,  so  it  has  been  distinctly  es- 
tablished that  the  same  law  of  geometric  progression  re- 
gulates the  subdivision  of  the  primordial  cell,  in  the  lower 
forms  of  animals  at  least.  In  some  of  the  Articulata  this 
process  of  increase  is  confined  to  the  primordial  cell  and 
its  progeny,  all  being  nourished  at  the  expense  of  the 
entire  yoke,  which  disappears.  But  in  other  cases,  the 
subdivision  of  the  above-named  cell  determines  also  a 
similar  process  in  the  yolk  which  surrounds  it,  each  cell 
produced  from  the  former  attracting  to  itself  a  certain 
portion  of  yolk,  so  that  the  increase  of  the  original  cell 
occasions  a  corresponding-  subdivision  of  the  yolk.  In 
certain  animals  higher  in  the  scale,  it  is  observed  that  the 
development  of  the  cells  (from  the  primordial  one,  placed 
near  the  surface  of  the  yolk,  and  not  in  the  centre  as  in 
lower  forms)  gives  rise  to  subdivision  of  the  yolk  only 
which  lies  near  them.  And  here  comes  in  one  of  those 
adaptations  presented  to  us  in  this  early  chapter  of  the 
animal's  history.  The  two  portions  of  yolk  are  distin- 
guished by  different  names,  that  which  becomes  subdi- 
vided is  termed  "  germ-yolk  ;"  the  other  portion,  exempt 
from  such  change,  is  called  "food-yolk."  The  latter  is 
looked  upon  as  something  superadded  to  the  former,  and 
is  considered  as  a  store  of  nourishing  material  to  be  used 
up  in  the  subsequent  development  of  the  new  being.  It 
may  be  remarked  that  the  size  of  the  yolk  is  generally  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  advance  made  by  the  animal  be- 
fore leaving  the  egg.  Thus  in  birds  it  is  very  large,  they 
escape  from  the  egg  in  a  well-developed  condition.  In- 
sects quit  the  egg  in  an  imperfect  state,  and  the  yolk  of 
their  ovum  is  small. 


802     COMMUNITY  OF  PLAN,  WITH  SPECIAL  ADAPTATIONS 

Iii  Echinodcrms  (sea-stars,  &c.)  there  have  been  dis- 
closed some  remarkable  modifications  in  the  ovum  for 
special  ends.  The  observations  of  Sars,*  rightly  inter- 
preted by  Professor  M  tiller,  have  shewn  that  soon  after 
the  subdivision  of  the  yolk,  the  young  embryo  of  Echin- 
aster  rubens  escapes  from  its  membrane,  and  becoming 
free  and  independent,  is  able  to  make  progression  in  the 
water.  Here  the  mass  of  cells  provided  with  numerous 
cilia  on  the  surface,  assumes  a  kind  of  independent  life, 
and  moves  from  place  to  place,  thus  providing  for  the 
wider  dispersion  of  the  new  being,  which  is  subsequently 
formed  from  it  by  a  kind  of  budding  process.  A  similar 
example  occurs,  with  some  modifications,  in  course  of  the 
development  of  the  sea-urchins.  The  ovum  escapes  at 
an  early  stage,  and  the  ciliated  surface  of  the  cells  is  a 
provision  for  locomotion  and  wide  dispersion  of  the  new 
generation.  Among  Mollusca  we  meet  with  similar  ex- 
amples of  adaptations  for  special  ends.  In  the  embryo 
of  certain  Tunicata,  we  observe  that  a  portion  of  the 
yolk  separates  from  the  remainder,  and  is  considered  as 
forming  a  tail-like  organ,  (the  young  animal  is,  in  fact, 
very  like  a  tadpole)  which  is  a  most  effectual  means  of 
progression  in  the  water,  and  accomplishes  its  purpose  in 
the  same  way  as  a  single  oar  at  the  stern  of  a  boat  en- 
ables us  to  scull  it  along.  At  a  subsequent  period,  the 
new  animal  becomes  attached  to  some  fixed  object,  and 
the  tail-like  appendage  disappears  after  having  accom- 
plished its  temporary  function. 

In  the  ova  of  Vertebrata,  we  also  meet  with  examples 
of  arrangements  for  special  ends  ;  one  may  suffice.  In 
the  egg  of  birds,  we  have  concurrence  of  adaptations 
very   clearly   illustrative  of  our   subject,  while,  at   the 

*  Sars,  Fauna  littoralls  Norwegian;  and  MiMer,  Uber  den  allgemeinen  Plan  in  del 
Entivickelung  der  Echinodermen. 


IN  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ORGANIZED  BEINGS.         303 

same  time,  the  essential  parts  of  the  ovum  are  con- 
structed on  the  same  plan  as  that  of  other  animals. 
Commencing  in  the  centre,  we  observe  the  yolk  with  the 
germ-spot  or  cicatricula  enclosed  in  the  yolk-bag  ;  these 
are  suspended  in  the  midst  of  the  soft  albumen,  and 
retained  in  position  by  means  of  two  clastic  chords,  the 
chalazce,  which  originate  at  the  broad  and  narrow  ends 
of  the  egg.  The  albumen  is  in  turn  surrounded  by  a 
tough  membrane,  (lining  the  shell)  consisting  of  two 
layers,  which,  being  separated  at  the  broad  end  of  the 
egg,  constitute  a  chamber  which  serves  as  a  reservoir  of 
air  to  be  used  up  in  the  earlier  stages  of  development. 
The  hard  shell  on  the  outside,  and  the  lining  membrane 
for  protection,  the  soft  bed  of  albumen  in  which  the  yolk 
is  suspended  by  the  elastic  chalazae,  and  so  suspended 
that,  being  lighter  than  the  other  parts,  the  germ-spot 
always  rises  uppermost,  and  so  is  nearest  the  warm  body 
of  the  parent  during  incubation — all  constitute  a  series 
of  remarkable  adaptations  for  special  ends. 

But  without  dwelling  longer  on  the  combination  of  the 
two  principles  in  the  ova  of  organized  beings,  we  may 
briefly  glance  at  certain  conclusions  which  have  been 
founded  upon  the  unity  of  structure  which  we  have  been 
examining. 

Because  there  is  such  remarkable  similarity  in  the  out- 
set of  life,  it  has  therefore  been  rashly  asserted  that  there 
is  resemblance  also  in  subsequent  stages,  and  that  the 
higher  animals  pass  through  a  series  of  changes,  each  of 
which  exactly  represents  the  permanent  condition  of  some 
other  being,  lower  in  the  scale.  It  is  true  that  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  development,  the  ova  of  the  highest  and 
of  the  lowest  animals  are  much  alike,  find  both  also  very 
similar  to  the  embryo  of  the  higher  plants,  and  to  the 
adult  forms  of  some  of  the  lower.    Still  we  are  not  entitled 


304     COMMUNITY  OF  PLAN,  WITH  SPECIAL  ADAPTATIONS 

to  conclude  that  there  is  absolutely  identity.  The  animal 
ovum,  removed  and  transferred  to  the  same  medium  as  the 
simple  plant,  would  assuredly  perish.  The  resemhlance 
amounts  to  this,  the  one  is  cellular  as  the  other  is,  and  the 
cells  in  both  propagate  according  to  the  same  law.  But 
there  is  no  ground  for  asserting  more.  And,  as  regards  the 
advanced  stages,  we  have  no  foundation  for  the  belief  that 
there  is  absolute  identity  of  certain  embryonic  conditions 
with  permanent  forms  of  animals  lower  in  the  scale.  The 
embryo  of  man  is  never,  at  any  stage,  of  the  same  nature 
as  that  of  a  worm,  of  a  fish,  a  reptile,  or  a  bird.  In  loose 
terms,  the  higher  foetus  at  a  certain  period  may  be  ver- 
miform in  the  sense  of  oblong,  but  it  is  never  articulate  ; 
the  relations  of  its  parts  are  such  that  it  could  never  by 
possibility  be  declared  that  the  two  are  absolutely  the 
same  in  organization.  But  as  such  assertions  are  not  now 
supported  by  authorities  of  any  weight,  we  deem  it  un- 
necessary to  enter  into  further  details.  The  great  gen- 
eral principle  enunciated  by  Von  Baer  gives  us  the  true 
explanation  of  the  phases  of  embryonic  life,  viz.,  "  a  he- 
terogeneous or  special  structure  arises  out  of  one  more 
homogeneous  or  general  ;"  which  may  be  simply  illus- 
trated by  saying  that  the  common  homogeneous  or 
general  material  gives  rise  in  course  of  development  to 
other  special  structures  which  are  heterogeneous. 

The  idea  has  also  been  entertained  by  some  that  even 
in  the  full  developed  or  adult  state  there  is  unity  of 
plan  in  all,  that  the  four  types,  Vertebrate,  Molluscan, 
Articulate,  and  Kadiate,  are  identical.  Thus  G-eoffroy  St. 
Hilaire  considered  the  cuttle-fishes  to  be  doubled  up  ver- 
tebrates. This  comparison  cannot  hold  ;  for  although 
Cephalopoda  are  the  most  highly  developed  of  the  mol- 
luscan type,  and,  in  some  sense,  higher  even  than  that 
singular  fish  called  Lancelet,  vet  we  cannot  view  them  as 


XS    THE   i>EVEU>PMENT    OF    ORGANIZED    BEINGS.      305 

nimMed  vertebrata  ;  they  are  essentially  molluscan.  In- 
sects were  denominated  by  St.  Hilaire,  vertebrata  with 
free  ribs — the  legs  being  so  considered.  Others  have 
compared  them  to  a  vertebrate  animal  turned  upside 
down,  the  abdominal  surface  of  the  insect,  next  which 
its  nervous  system  lies,  being  considered  as  representing 
the  back  of  the  higher  animal,  and  the  limbs  as  the 
homologues  of  the  laminre  doisales.*  That  is  to  say,  the 
articulaf  a  were  compared  to  the  embryo  of  vertebrata  with 
the  dorsal  lamina?  free,  not  entering  into  the  formation 
of  the  neural  arches,  but  modified  for  purposes  of  loco- 
motion. There  can  be  no  doubt,  from  what  has  been 
already  stated  in  a  previous  part  of  this  work,  that  such 
attempts  at  indicating  identity  in  the  four  plans  of  struc- 
ture are  overstrained  and  far  from  representing  the  truth. 
We  have  seen  that  in  all  animals  alike  there  is  a  com- 
mon starting-point,  but  as  the  development  advances,  we 
observe  that  varied  structures  and  arrangements  of  organs 
appear,  respectively  suited  to  the  sphere  to  be  occupied 
by  the  new  being,  and  assigned  to  it  by  Him  who  is  great 
in  power  and  excellent  in  working. 

It  has  been  already  remarked  how  close  the  resem- 
blance is  between  the  ovum  of  the  animal  and  of  the 
plant  in  the  earlier  stages  of  existence.  But  farther,  there 
is  very  striking  similarity  between  the  simpler  kinds  of 
plants  (Protophyta)  and  the  lower  forms  of  animals  (Pro- 
tozoa). This  has  given  rise  to  the  idea,  that  between 
these  at  least  there  is  no  true  line  of  demarcation,  and 
that  therefore  there  is  a  merging  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom into  the  animal  kingdom  at  the  lowest  extremes  of 
each.  In  both  cases  we  have  beings  composed  either  of 
a  single  independent  cell,  or  of  aggregated  groups  of 

*  These  appear  at  a  very  early  period  of  embryonic  life,  their  external  portions  form 
the  rudiments  of  the  back-bone  and  cranium. 


306     COMMUNITY  OF  PLAN,  WITH  SPECIAL  ADAPTATIONS 

cells,  and  this  has  given  rise  to  a  difference  of  opinion  in 
defining  which  is  the  simple  animal  and  which  is  the 
simple  plant.  Both  may  have  this  in  common — they  can 
propagate  by  simple  subdivision  of  their  parts.  A  mark  of 
distinction  has  been  sought  for  in  their  mode  of  nutrition, 
and  it  is  probably  in  this  that  the  true  difference  lies.  The 
simple  plant  is  dependent  on  the  presence  of  carbonic 
acid  and  a  sufficient  supply  of  moisture  ;  the  animal  organ- 
ism receives  its  supplies  from  other  animals  or  plants. 

In  the  resemblance  which  they  bear  to  each  other,  we 
can  at  least  trace  an  amount  of  unity  which  indicates  the 
Oneness  of  the  Designer. 

In  still  higher  forms  of  both  animals  and  plants,  we 
have  no  difficulty  as  to  fixed  characteristics  ;  but  even 
among  such,  strange  to  say,  we  observe  a  remarkable 
parallelism  in  the  phases  of  development.  In  certain 
animal  organisms,  a  detached  part,  bearing  the  ova,  has 
been  described  as  an  entire  and  perfectly  independent 
organism,  while  the  animal  stock  which  produced  it  may 
have  been  either  overlooked  or  described  as  something 
different.  We  have  already  alluded  to  this  subject  (see 
Radiata)  and,  without  further  discussion,  we  shall  now, 
in  further  illustration  of  it,  give  a  few  parallel  passages 
from  the  history  of  the  animal  and  of  the  plant. 


Radiata. 
Medusa. — 1.  Ovum. 

2.  This  egg  becomes  fixed,  and 
grows  into  a  polyp-like  animal  or 
stock,  which  produces  free  buds  of 
the  same  nature  as  the  stock. 

3.  The  stock  gives  off  free  swim- 
ming Medusa?,  these  produce  ova, 
which  repeat  the  two  phases  de- 
scribed. 

*  Free  buds  are  produced  In  not  a  few  plants,  as  Lilium  bulbiferum,  Polygonum  viv* 
parum,  Saxifraga  cernua,  &c.,  &c. 


Plant. 
Plant— I.  Seed. 

2.  This  seed  germinates,  and  forms 
stem  and  buds ;  some  of  the  latter 
may  drop  off,  and  produce  plants 
tike  the  parent  stock.* 

3.  The  stock  finally  produces 
flowers,  fruit,  and  seeds. 


eliaja:JC.p,301 


McCOSH    ON    TYPICAL    FORMS. 


p.  307 


IN   THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    ORGANIZED    BEINGS.      307 


Plant. 
Plant.— I.  Seed. 

2.  This  seed  germinates,  and  pro- 
duces stem  and  buds;  some  of  the 
latter  may  become  detached  from 
the  stock. 

3.  The  stock  finally  produces 
flowers,  fruit,  and  seeds. 


Plant. 

Plant— 1.  Seed. 

2.  This  seed  germinates,  and  pro- 
duces stem  and  buds ;  some  of  the 
latter  may  become  detached  from 
the  stock. 

3.  The  stock  finally  produces 
flowers,  fruit,  and  seeds. 


MOI.LTJSCA. 

Salpa. — 1.  Ovum. 

2.  This  ovum  produces  a  solitary 
Salpa,  in  the  interior  of  which  a 
chain  of  Salpai  is  produced  by  a  pro- 
cess of  budding. 

3.  Each  Salpa  of  the  chain  pro- 
duces an  ovum,  which  attains  nearly 
full  development,  as  No.  2,  before 
escaping. 

Articulata. 

Aphis. — 1.  Ovum. 

2.  This  ovum,  in  spring,  produces 
an  individual  which  gives  origin, 
during  summer,  to  several  others 
like  itself,  by  a  process  of  budding. 

3.  In  autumn,  males  and  females 
are  produced  by  the  same  process ; 
the  latter  deposit  ova.* 


We  have  selected  an  example  from  each  of  the  three 
types,  the  Radiate,  Molluscan,  and  Articulate,  illustrative 
of .  the  complete  parallelism  which  there  is  between  the 
phases  of  their  life  and  those  of  the  plant.  May  there 
not  also  be  traced  a  parallelism  between  the  plant  and 
the  Vertebrate  animal  ? 


*  See  Engraving.  A.  A  seed  produces  a  plant,  which  increases  by  the  formation 
of  buds,  which -are  usually  fixed.  Finally,  flowers  and  seeds  are  produced.  B.  An 
ovum  produced  a  ciliated  organism,  which  becomes  attached,  and  then  gives  rise  to  a 
succession  of  polyps  by  a  process  of  budding.  Certain  modified  individuals  produce 
ova.  C.  An  ovum  produces  a  wingless  Aphis  (green-fly,  &c. ;)  this  gives  rise  to  others 
like  itself  by  a  process  of  budding;  (these  differ  from  those  of  B  and  C  in  being  free.) 
Finallj',  perfect  males  and  females  (winged)  are  produced,  and  ova  are  deposited. 

1.  Leaf-stalk  of  Ash,  composed  of  a  series  of  similar  pieces. 

2.  Digit  of  Pithecus,  (a  species  of  Ape,)  consisting  of  metacarpal  bone  and  phalanges, 
all  presenting  similarity  of  form. 

I.  Small  branch  of  a  species  of  Bamboo,  (Bambusa  arundinacea,)  consisting  of  a  series 
of  similar  pieces. 

II.  Part  of  back-bone  of  Proteus,  (reptile,)  composed  of  a  linear  series  of  similar 
pieces,  (centra.) 

1,  2,  I.,  II.,  illustrate  the  remarks  on  typical  form  at  pp.  185, 186. 

A,  B,  and  C,  are  adopted  from  Professor  Owen's  work,  entitled  "  Parthenogenesis. " 


308    COMMUNITY  OF  PLAN,  ETC.,  OF  ORGANIZED  BEINGS, 
Plant. 


1.  Seed. 

2.  Stem     (internodes)    and    leaf- 
stalk.    (See  p.  1S5  footnote.) 

3.  Ramified  branch  and  venation, 
(pp.  104-119.) 

4.  Axis,  subterranean  and  aerial^ 
with  appendages. 


Vertebrata. 

1.  Ovum. 

2.  Typical  bone.      (See  pp.  184- 
187.) 

3.  Typical  vertebra. 

3.  Vertebral  column,  with  appen- 
dages. 


We  can  trace  throughout  organic  nature  a  system  of 
Homotypes,  or  serially  repeated  parts,  in  the  individual 
plant  and  animal.  We  can  also  discover,  in  each  of  the 
great  leading  divisions  both  of  the  vegetable  and  animal 
kingdoms,  a  system  of  Homologous  or  answerable  parts. 
In  very  different  organic  structures  we  can  find  Analo- 
gies, or  different  organs  fulfilling  the  same  function.  But 
we  can  do  more  :  when  ice  compare  the  various  organic 
kingdoms  one  ivith  another,  we  can  detect  parallelisms 
in  development,  (Homceophytes.*)  These  parallelisms 
may  not  be  of  the  same  scientific  value  as  homologies 
which  now  enter  into  the  very  structure  of  every. depart- 
ment of  natural  science,  but  they  are  of  equal,  or  at  least 
of  similar,  value  in  Natural  Theology.  The  homceophytes 
shew  fully  as  clearly  as  the  homotypes,  the  homologies, 
or  the  analogies,  that  all  organic  creation  has  proceeded 
according  to  a  plan  devised  in  eternity,  and  being  realized 
in  time. 

*  This  phrase  has  been  suggested  to  us  by  our  friend  and  colleague,  ProC  M'Douall. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GEOLOGY. 
SECT.  I. — TRACES   OF   PLAN   IN  FOSSIL   REMAINS. 

We  have  discovered  proofs  of  One  Designing  Mind  in 
the  organization  of  plants  and  animals  in  the  existing 
epoch  of  our  earth's  history.  But  our  earth  has  also  had 
a  past  history.  Could  our  globe  relate  the  story  of  the 
scenes  which  have  taken  place  on  its  surface,  what  a 
thrilling  narrative  would  it  furnish  !  The  dumb  earth 
possesses  no  power  of  detailing  its  past  changes  in  lan- 
guage, but  it  has  carefully  prepared  in  its  crust,  records, 
which  man  has  faculties  to  decipher,  and  which  he  may 
succeed  in  deciphering,  provided  he  proceeds  with  pains 
and  caution,  and  in  the  spirit  and  method  of  the  induc- 
tion of  Bacon.  The  archaeologist  draws  conclusions  from 
the  style  of  the  ancient  buildings  examined  by  him,  and 
finds  an  entire  history  in  the  coins  which  he  disinters 
from  their  crumbling  ruins  ;  the  geologist  can  also  gather 
most  important  ins!  ruction  as  to  the  past  from  the  still 
more  valuable  relics  which  are  preserved  in  the  rocks  and 
dust  of  our  earth.  It  will  be  found  that  geology  extends 
our  argument  in  respect  of  time  throughout  ages  which 
cannot  be  numbered,  and  shews  that  God  has  been  pro- 
ceeding in  a  pre-arranged  system  from  the  commence- 
ment of  creation. 


310  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

First,  On  examining  the  deposits  of  geological  eras, 
there  is  little  difficulty  in  shewing  that  plants  and  animals 
have  been  constructed  on  the  same  general  plan  from  the 
beginning. 

Secondly,  As  the  organisms  of  different  geological  eras, 
while  formed  on  a  general  model,  do  yet  differ  widely 
from  each  other,  the  question  is  started,  Is  there  a  pre- 
determined scheme  in  the  successive  appearances  of  ani- 
mated beings  ;  or,  in  other  words,  is  there  plan  in  the 
creation  of  classes,  orders,  genera,  and  species  ?  It 
should  be  frankly  acknowledged  that  geology  is  not  yet 
prepared  to  give  a  certain  and  decided  answer  to  this 
question.  Still  it  has  revealed  phenomena  which  raise 
the  question,  and  supplied  some  facts  which  may  help  to 
answer  it,  and  furnishes  proofs  that  there  is  order  in  the 
succession  of  animal  races,  even  though  it  has  not  yet 
entitled  us  to  say  with  confidence  that  we  have  discovered 
the  plan.  Geology  thus  opens  up  glimpses  not  only  of 
a  plan  in  respect  of  contemporaneous  and  existing  nature, 
but  of  a  plan  in  respect  of  past  and  successive  nature. 

Thirdly,  Geology  has  a  further,  and  this  a  most  im- 
portant principle  to  reveal.  It  shews  not  only  a  uniform 
but  an  advancing  plan.  It  does  more,  it  unrolls  a  pro- 
phetic scroll,  in  which  •  the  earlier  animated  creation 
points  on  to  the  later,  and  in  which  the  later  comes  as  a 
fulfilment  of  the  anticipation  of  the  earlier.  These  are 
the  topics  to  be  discussed  in  this  section. 

I.  Uniform  Plan. — The  silex  dissolved  in  the  water 
of  some  ancient  spring  or  lake  has  often  entirely  replaced 
the  materials  of  a  stem,  taking  not  merely  the  place  but 
assuming  the  very  form  and  essential  character  of  every 
cell  and  modification  of  it,  so  that,  when  subjected  to  the 
wheel  of  the  lapidary,  slices  may  be  cut  which,  under  the 
microscope,  reveal  the  most  minute  structure  of  the  ori- 


IN    FOSSIL    KEMAINS.  311 

ginal   plant.     The   elements,  the   living   stones   of  the 
extinct  vegetable,  have  thus  been  wonderfully  preserved  for 
our  examination  and  instruction.     Even  when  scarcely  a 
trace  of  vegetable  structure  can  be  detected,  the  inorganic 
material  of  the  earth's  crust— the  clay  or  mud  of  some 
ancient  lake  or  swamp,  or  the  sand  now  forming  the 
stone  of  some  modern  quarry — has  come  into  the  place 
of  the  organic  framework,  or  received  such  an  impression 
by  contact,  that  we  have  thus  singularly  preserved  for 
our  inspection  an  accurate  representation  of  a  fruit  or  of 
the  venation  of  a  leaf  torn  from  the  parent  plant  by  a 
passing  hurricane,  or   shed  naturally  in  the  autumn  of 
some  one  of  those  countless  years  which  elapsed  before 
man  appeared.     These  relics  shew  that  the  same  system 
governed  the  building  up  of  the  ancient  tree-ferns,  palms, 
and  pines,  as  still  regulates  the  formation  of  those  that 
surround  us  with  all   their   symmetry  and  gracefulness. 
How  interesting  is  it  to  trace  on  these  fossils,  as  we  have 
often  done,  the  same  crossing  or  winding  spirals,  and  the 
same  rhomboidal  figures  produced  by  their  intersection, 
as  we  have  in  the  tree-ferns  and  firs  still  growing  on  our 
earth  ;  a  proof  that  tire  spiral  then,  as  now,  regulated  the 
position  of  the  appendages  of  the  plant. 

A  similar  conclusion  may  be  drawn  from  the  animal 
remains  imbedded  in  the  crust  of  the  earth.  The  Uraster 
obtusus  of  the  older  Silurian  rocks  has  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  the  Uraster  rubens  of  our  own  coasts  ;  the  ra- 
diate arrangement  of  parts  is  identical  in  both.  The 
earliest  Crustacea  known  to  us,  the  Trilobites,  present 
the  articulate  type  so  familiar  to  us  in  the  lobster  and 
crab.  The  shell  of  the  little  Nucula  varicosa,  found  in 
the  same  old  strata,  must  have  given  protection  to  an 
animal  like  that  of  our  living  species  of  that  same  genus. 
The  earliest  spiral  shells  which  have  been  discovered  are 


312  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

governed  by  the  same  mathematical  principles  as  those 
which  the  molluscs  are  following  at  this  day  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  habitations.  The  vertebrate  column 
and  appendages  of  fossil  fish,  bird,  and  mammal,  whether 
of  the  older  or  more  recent  geological  epochs,  were  formed 
on  the  same  models  as  those  of  the  same  models  that  still 
people  our  earth  and  its  waters.  The  teeth  of  extinct 
animals  were  constructed  on  the  same  general  plan  as 
those  of  existing  species,  and  this,,  whether  we  view  them 
as  regards  form,  jDOsition,  number,  or  minute  structure. 

Indeed,  the  geologist  proceeds,  and  is  entitled — by  a 
large  induction  of  facts,  and  the  verifications  which  are 
ever  casting  up— to  proceed,  on  the  principles  which  we 
have  all  along  been  illustrating  in  this  treatise.  It  is 
seldom  that  he  iinds  a  fossil  plant  or  animal  entire  ;  most 
commonly  he  falls  in  with  only  a  fragment  ;  yet  this 
fragment,  if  it  be  a  significant  one,  enables  him  to  recon- 
struct the  whole.  The  process  of  theoretical  reconstruc- 
tion is  conducted  on  those  very  principles  of  homology 
and  teleology  which  we  have  shewn  to  pervade  all  orga- 
nic nature.  The  paleontologist  supposes  that  the  whole 
organism,  whether  plant  or  animal,  was  constructed  on  a 
plan  ;  that  there  were  answerable  parts  in  the  genus  or 
species,  and  a  series  of  homotypes  in  the  individual ;  and 
he  goes  on  confidently  to  supply  the  wanting  parts  on  the 
principle  of  homology.  He  proceeds,  too,  on  the  princi- 
ple of  final  cause  ;  he  supposes  that  the  part  had  an  end 
to  serve,  and  that  there  would  be  a  conformity  of  every 
other  organ  to  fulfil  that  end.  By  means  of  these  two 
principles  he  can  often,  when  he  is  in  possession  of  but  a 
fragment,  make  the  entire  organism  stand  before  us  with 
all  its  harmonies  and  its  fitnesses.  When  at  any  time 
he  falls  in  with  an  entire  fossil  organism,  he  finds  that 
his  principles  are  verified,  and  that  he  is  entitled  to  pro- 


IN   FOSSIL   REMAINS.  313 

ceed  on  them.  In  the  next  section  we  shall  shew  how  he 
uses  the  principle  of  final  cause  ;  in  this  section  we  are  to 
observe  him  as  proceeding  upon  model  forms  in  his  inves- 
tigations of  the  various  kingdoms  of  nature. 

Fossil  Plants. — Certain  vegetable  organs  have  been 
imperfectly  preserved  in  the  earth's  strata,  or  have  under- 
gone such  changes  that  it  is  often  difficult  to  detect  their 
relations.  The  paleontologist  does  not  hesitate  to  trace  up 
these  to  one  or  other  of  the  great  leading  divisions  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  He  may  not  have  before  him,  or  be 
able  to  find,  some  one  part  of  the  organism — say  the  seed, 
so  as  to  ascertain  the  structure  of  the  embryo  ;  but  he  is 
not  thereby  prevented  from  referring  the  plant  to  its  pro- 
per place,  provided  he  can  find  out  the  structure  of  some 
other  part — say  its  stem,  or  the  arrangement  of  the  veins 
of  its  leaves.  If  the  venation  of  the  leaf  is  netted,  he 
concludes  that  the  plant  proceeded  from  a  seed  with  two 
cotyledons,  and  was  exogenous.  Associations  of  charac- 
ter, such  as  we  have  described  in  the  chapter  on  the 
Forms  of  Plants,  are  all  important,  not  only  in  the  exa- 
mination of  living,  but  of  fossil  plants.  Fortunately  the 
structure,  whether  exogenous  or  endogenous,  can  be  de- 
tected in  most  fossil  plants,  and  thus  we  have  a  key  to 
explain  other  arrangements  which  must  have  been  asso- 
ciated with  it,  and  this  holds  true,  whether  we  have  the 
whole  stem  or  merely  a  fragment.  In  most  cases  we  have 
only  a  part,  but  when  we  do  meet  with  an  entire  trunk,  as 
of  Mantellia  nidiformis  in  the  petrified  forest  of  the  Isle 
of  Portland,  we  see  at  once  that  we  have  drawn  legitimate 
conclusions. 

The  characteristic  venation,  whether  netted  or  other- 
wise, obvious  in  the  impressions  of  leaves  met  with  in 
various  geological  strata,  it  is  so  well  preserved,  that  bota- 
nists do  not  hesitate  to  refer  them  to  one  or  other  of  tho 

14 


314  TEACES   OF   PLAN 

leading  divisions  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  The  special 
modifications  of  the  veins  arc  also  such  that  we  can  state 
whether  the  leaf  belonged  to  a  plane  or  a  beech ;  and 
one  of  the  highest  authorities,  the  late  Von  Buch,  has 
recommended  a  close  study  of  the  venation  of  the  leaves 
of  living  species  as  necessary  for  the  discrimination  of 
vegetable  leaf  inpressions  belonging  to  extinct  forms. 
In  the  remarkable  Clathraria  Lyellii,  found  in  the  chalk 
marl  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  the  appearances  are  such  as  to 
indicate  that  the  leaves  were  shed  naturally,  just  as  in 
existing  trees  ;  a  proof  that  the  same  organic  relation  of 
stem  and  appendages  existed  in  ancient  as  in  modern 
epochs. 

Radiata. — The  relics  of  corals,  of  sea-stars,  and  sea- 
urchins,  preserved  and  handed  down  to  us  in  the  pages 
of  the  Palseographic  volume,  must  be  studied  according 
to  the  principles  which  apply  to  living  forms.  We  can 
expect  fruitful  results  only  when  we  proceed  on  the  idea 
of  a  regulating  type. 

The  corals  of  different  periods  have  in  general  a 
certain  plan  of  structure,  but  at  the  same  time  present 
a  remarkable  contrast  as  to  numerical  type.  It  appears, 
from  the  researches  of  M.  Milne  Edwards,  that  the  cup- 
shaped  corals  of  the  Palceozoic  age  have  the  stony 
lamelke  or  rays  regulated  by  the  numbers  4,  8,  16,  &c.  ; 
while  in  those  of  the  Neozoic  period,  (including  all 
epochs  from  the  Trias  to  the  present  time,)  or  newest 
type,  the  regulating  numbers  were  6,  12,  24,  &c.*  Here 
we  have  a  remarkable  example  of  order,  enabling  the 
geologist  to  arrive  at  instructive  results  respecting  the 
position,  in  time,  of  rocks  in  which  corals  are  pre- 
served. 

*  It  Is  stated  that  only  two  exceptions  occur ;  one  species  of  the  quaternary  type  being 
found  in  the  chalk  formation,  and  one  of  the  ternary  type  in  the  Silurian  rocks. 


IN    FOSSIL    REMAINS.  315 

HIoIIusca.—But  few  traces  remain  of  the  soft  bodies  of 
the  Molluscan  inhabitants  of  the  ancient  world,  and  these 
generally  in  such  a  state  that  we  cannot  draw  any  sure 
conclusions  as  to  their  organization.  The  perfect  condi- 
tion of  fossil  shells,  however  affords  us  data  from  which  to 
reason  as  to  the  ancient  modifications  of  the  archetype  ; 
and  we  cannot  doubt  that  extinct  species  were  formed 
after  the  same  general  plan  as  those  which  still  exist. 

The  mathematical  principles  which  determined  the 
forms  of  the  shell  in  living  species,  as  demonstrated  by 
Moseley,  Naumann,  and  Elie  de  Beumont,  have  been  ap- 
plied by  D'Orbigny  in  the  examination  of  fossil  species. 
In  his  "  Palasontologie  Frangaise/'  he  shews  that,  even 
when  fragments  alone  remain,  as  is  often  the  case  in  geo- 
logical formations,  the  whole  shell  can  be  restored  theoret- 
ically, provided  we  have  so  much  as  two  contiguous  turns 
of  a  spiral  shell  entire. 

Articulata. —  The  Crustacea  or  crabs,  the  insects,  and 
other  jointed  animals  of  former  ages,  present  the  same 
type  of  structure  which  prevails  among  the  same  families 
at  present,  and  this  holds  true  from  the  very  remote 
epoch  of  the  earliest  Trilobites  to  the  more  recent  forms 
of  Crustacea,  preserved  to  us  in  the  Lithographic  slate  of 
Solenhofen.  The  Astacus  Leachii  and  A.  Sussexiensis, 
from  the  chalk  of  the  South  Downs,  had  their  rings  and 
appendages  formed  on  the  same  general  model  as  their 
living  allies,  the  lobster  and  cray-fish.  Professor  M'Coy 
has  shewn,  that  some  disputed  points  in  the  characters  of 
the  Trilobites  can  be  interpreted  when  we  proceed  on  the 
principle  of  a  general  plan.* 

Vertcbrata. — The  able  investigations  of  Cuvier,  of 
Owen,  and  of  numerous  other  Continental  and  British 
observers,  are  founded  on  the  existence  of  a  type  or  model 

*  British  Palieozoic  Fossils,  Part  II. 


316  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

in  Vertebrata.  It  matters  not  how  far  back  we  examine 
the  records  of  the  geological  volume,  we  can  see  that  the 
method  which  regulated  the  construction  of  the  most 
ancient  vertebrate  animal  known,  was  identical  with  that 
which  we  can  recognise  in  every  being  of  the  vertebrate 
sub-kingdom  which  surrounds  us.  The  well-preserved 
jaws  with  teeth,  and  other  relics,  disinterred  from  the 
bone-bed  of  the  upper  Ludlow  rock,  enable  us  to  draw 
conclusions  as  to  the  nature  of  the  skeleton,  and  the  mo- 
difications of  the  archetype  presented  by  it. 

The  ancient  reptile,  Telerpeton  Elginense,  is,  so  far  as 
we  know  at  present,  the  oldest  of  its  class.  Imbedded 
in  its  stone  sarcophagus,  we  can  recognise  the  existence 
of  a  skull,  back-bone,  ribs,  pelvis,  and  limbs.  We  can 
count  the  ribs  and  the  pieces  of  the  spine,  and  sec  that 
the  pelvis  is  placed  after  the  24th  vertebra,  just  as  in  the 
living  Iguana. 

Even  "  footprints  in  the  sands  of  time"  are  capable  of 
yielding  valuable  results,  where  nothing  else  is  left.  We 
can  recognise,  in  ancient  sandstones,  the  trail  of  tortoises, 
of  frogs,  of  lizards,  and  of  birds.  The  feet  which  im- 
printed them,  and  the  entire  beings,  may  have  decayed 
but  the  impressions  left  are  such,  that  the  nature  of  the 
digits  can  be  made  out ;  and  authorities  are  agreed  as 
to  the  extinct  Vertebrata  having  been  respectively  fur- 
nished with  the  same  kind  of  limbs  which  characterize 
living  forms  belonging  to  the  same  classes  of  the  verte- 
brate type. 

II.  Progressive  Plan. — The  inherent  desire  of  our 
intellectual  nature  to  discover  laws,  prompts  us  to  inquire 
whether  there  has  not  been  order  in  the  successive  crea- 
tions of  animals  and  of  plants.  The  facts  already  dis- 
closed by  geology  seem  to  us  to  show  that  there  was  a 


IN    FOSSIL    REMAINS.  317 

predetermined  plan  in  the  appearance  of  new  species  of 
organized  beings.  It  is,  however,  very  difficult  to  enun- 
ciate what  this  order  is. 

One  of  our  most  distinguished  geologists  holds  that 
we  have  not  arrived  at  a  stage  of  knowledge  to  entitle  us 
to  draw  dogmatic  conclusions  as  to  the  order  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  animated  beings,  and  his  arguments,  as  well 
as  his  name,  must  ever  carry  great  weight.  "  I  shall 
simply,"  says  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  "  express  my  own  con- 
viction that  we  are  still  on  the  mere  threshold  of  our  in- 
quiries ;  and  that,  as  in  the  last  fifty  years,  so  in  the 
next  half  century,  we  shall  be  called  upon  repeatedly  to 
modify  our  first  opinions  respecting  the  range  in  time  of 
the  various  classes  of  fossil  vertebrata.  It  would  there- 
fore be  premature  to  generalize  at  present  on  the  non- 
existence, or  even  on  the  scarcity  of  vertebrata,  whether 
terrestrial  or  aquatic,  at  periods  of  high  antiquity,  such 
as  the  Silurian  and  Cambrian."*  While  admitting  the 
force  of  this  statement,  it  will,  nevertheless,  be  necessary 
briefly  to  state  and  examine  some  other  views  which  have 
been  advanced. 

First,  it  will  be  needful  to  notice  the  view  of  those  who 
maintain  that  there  has  been  a  gradual  rise  in  the  type 
of  animated  beings,  from  the  earliest  period  to  the  present 
epoch.  There  has  been  at  times  associated  with  this, 
another  theory  which  derives  all  the  higher  and  later 
forms  by  natural  law  and  progressive  development  from 
the  lower  and  earlier.  It  is  proper  to  state,  however, 
that  these  two  opinions  have  no  necessary  connexion  ;  the 
former  may  be  maintained  by  persons  who  deny  the 
latter  ;  the  former  may  be  true  while  the  latter  is  false. 

The  facts  revealed  by  geology  seem  to  point  to  a  begin- 
ning of  organized  life.     The  lower  we   descend  in  the 

*  Lyell's  Manual  of  Elementary  Geology,  5th  edit.,  1S51,  p.  663. 


318  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

strata  of  successive  periods,  the  fewer  the  remains  of  living 
beings.  In  passing  downwards  we  reach  a  point  where 
there  is  but  a  single  record  preserved  of  the  existence  of 
any  organism  ;  we  refer  to  the  Zoophytes,  Oldhamia  an- 
tiqua,  and  0.  radiata,  found  in  the  lowest  Silurian  rocks. 
If  we  proceed  from  this  point  upwards,  we  find  what 
looks  at  first  sight  like  a  rise  in  type.  What  we  mean 
may  be  made  evident  without  entering  upon  the  con- 
sideration of  any  other  fossils  than  those  belonging  to  the 
vertebrate  sub-kingdom. 

And  here  we  first  of  all  meet  with  the  fact  that  the 
Invertebrata  preceded  the  Vertebrata  ;  for  there  are  no 
traces  of  the  latter  till  we  reach  the  upper  Silurian  rocks, 
far  more  recent  in  time  than  those  which  are  lower.  The 
thin  bone-bed  of  the  upper  Ludlow  rock  contains  frag- 
ments of  fishes,  relics  of  the  most  ancient  beings  of  their 
class.  If  we  continue  our  examination,  we  next  meet 
with  remains  of  reptiles  in  the  upper  Devonian  strata. 
The  quarry  of  Cummingston,  near  Elgin,  has  yielded  the 
earliest  reptilian  relic  known  to  us,  and  so  well  preserved 
that  the  ribs  and  most  of  the  skeleton  can  be  distinctly 
seen.  It  appears  to  have  combined  in  itself  the  charac- 
ters of  the  lizard  and  of  the  frog.  Next  in  order  of  time, 
birds  and  mammals  appear  in  the  Trias  formation.  The 
Connecticut  sandstone,  which  bears  well-marked  impres- 
sions of  footprints  of  birds,  would  seem  to  present  the 
earliest  indications  of  that  class.  *  And  in  the  upper  Trias, 
Professor  Plieninger  has  found  molar  teeth  of  an  insect- 
eating  quadruped.  Now  we  have  here  an  evident  pro- 
gression in  one  sense  ;  first,  invertebrata  alone  present 


*  In  birds,  every  toe  has  the  number  of  its  hones  remarkably  constant,  and  each  hav- 
ing a  characteristic  number,  it  is  obvious  that  we  can  by  such  marks  distinguish  the 
foot-print  of  a  bird.  The  outermost  toe  has  always  five  phalanges,  the  fourth  has  four, 
the  third  has  three,  the  second  lias  two,  and  the  spur  or  inner  toe,  has  only  one  piece. 


IN    FOSSIL    REMAINS.  310 

themselves  ;  next,  and  after  a  long  period,  vertebrata 
appear,  beginning  with  the  lowest,  viz.,  fishes,  next  rep- 
tiles, then  birds  and  mammalia,  in  the  inverse  order 
which  they  occupy  as  regards  organization.  But  then 
another  question  comes  in,  Is  the  first  fish  the  lowest  of 
its  class  ?  A  similar  question  has  to  be  asked  of  reptiles, 
birds,  and  mammals. 

The  fish  relics  of  the  Ludlow  bone-bed  are  sufficiently 
well  preserved  to  enable  us  to  judge  of  the  characters  of 
the  beings  of  which  they  are  the  remains.  Their  jaws 
and  teeth  are  very  perfect,  and  they  give  indications  that 
they  were  not  the  lowest  of  their  class.  The  Onchus  of 
the  upper  Silurian  rock  "  was  a  fish  of  the  highest  and 
most  composite  order ;  and  it  exhibits  no  symptom 
whatever  of  transition  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  grade  of 
the  family,  any  more  than  the  crustaceans,  cephalopods, 
and  other  shells  of  the  lowest  fossiliferous  rocks.  The 
first  created  fish  was  as  marvellously  constructed  as  the 
last  which  made  its  appearance,  or  is  now  living  in  our 
seas."* 

But  it  may  be  inquired  whether  the  ancient  Silurian 
ocean  was  stocked  only  with  fishes  of  high  organization. 
Suppose  a  sea  with  its  scaly  inhabitants,  comprehending 
sharks  with  hard  teeth  and  shagreen  skin,  and  also  soft 
lampreys  and  hags  ;  it  is  obvious  that  the  relics  of  the  two 
former  are  more  likely  to  be  preserved  to  us  than  those 
of  the  two  last.  This  may  be  admitted,  without,  how- 
ever, improving  the  argument  as  to  a  progression  in  type. 
For  although  all  are  comprehended  in  Cuvier's  division 
characterized  by  soft  skeleton,  the  sharks  rank  much  the 
higher — they  are,  in  fact,  the  highest  of  their  class ;  the 
highly  developed  brain,  their  organs  of  sense,  &c.,  prove 
them  to  hold  the  rank  we  have  stated,  the  lampreys  and 

*  Murchison's  Siluria,  p.  239. 


820  TKACES  OF   PLAN 

hags  being  far  lower  in  type.  The  unequal  development 
of  the  tail  (heterocercal)  in  the  full-grown  shark  is  the 
only  remaining  argument  in  favour  of  their  being  per- 
manent representatives  of  an  embryonic  state,  and,  there- 
fore, low  in  type.  But  this  also  must  fall  to  the  ground 
as  an  argument,  because  founded  on  an  erroneous  or 
mistaken  view  of  the  case  ;  for  the  symmetrical  develop- 
ment of  the  tail  actually  precedes  the  unsymmetrical,  in 
certain  fishes.  The  observations  of  M.  Vogt,  in  reference 
to  this  matter,  has  been  either  misunderstood  or  misre- 
presented. The  young  Coregonus,  (one  of  the  salmon 
family,)  on  which  his  investigations  were  made,  has 
actually  at  the  first  rays  of  the  tail-fin  arranged  sym- 
metrically above  and  below  the  end  of  the  spinal  column, 
and  therefore  homocercal ;  the  unequal  development  of 
the  tail-fin  (heterocercal)  is  the  final  condition,  as,  in- 
deed, it  is  in  the  Salmonidas,  contrary  to  the  usual 
opinion.*  The  earliest  fishes  known  to  us  were  not 
the  lowest  of  their  class,  but  actually  among  the  highest. 
Evidence  of  a  similar  tendency  is  derived  from  a  con- 
sideration of  some  of  the  earlier  invertebrata.  One  of 
the  most  ancient  Crustacea  yet  discovered,  Hymenocaris 
vermicauda,  found  in  the  Bangor  slate,  is  not  of  low  type, 
it  is  among  the  highest  of  the  Phyllopod  order,  which  is 
not  very  far  removed  in  structure  from  the  very  highest 
of  the  Crustacean  class.  It  is  not  true,  as  has  been 
affirmed,  that  man  and  the  higher  animals,  in  their  dif- 
ferent stages  of  embryonic  life,  represent  some  permanent 
forms  of  organisms  lower  in  the  scale  ;  nor  can  any  proof 
be  adduced  of  an  analogous  progress  in  the  womb  of 
time.  Even  if  it  were  strictly  true  that  there  was  a  gra- 
dual improvement  in  type  as  time   rolled  on,  it  would 

*  For  additional  remarks  on  this  subject,  we  would  refer  to  a  Lecture  by  Professoi 
Uuxley  at  the  Eoyal  Institution,  April  1855.    Annals  Nat.  History,  July  1855. 


IN   FOSSIL   REMAINS.  321 

still  be  necessary  that  those  who  adopt  the  "development 
hypothesis,"  should  prove  that  transmutation  of  a  low 
into  a  high  grade  had  been  accomplished.  Allowing 
that  the  first  position  had  been  established,  the  question 
remains,  whether  this  might  not  have  been  the  plan  of 
the  Creator  in  bringing  forward  the  beings  which  live  on 
our  earth. 

The  supporters  of  the  idea  of  progressive  development 
and  transmutation  of  species  in  a  long  series  of  ages,  be- 
lieve also  in  a  progression  of  life  from  sea  to  land,  and 
that  this  explains  what  they  denominate  "  the  barrenness 
of  Creation  ;"  that  is  to  say,  that  certain  conditions  of  the 
earth's  surface,  favourable  to  the  support  of  animals,  long 
preceded  their  appearance,  inasmuch  as  time  was  required 
for  the  necessary  transformations  of  marine  animals  into 
others  fitted  to  live  upon  the  land.  It  may  be  true  that 
uninhabited  dry  land  existed  at  periods  when  the  sea 
was  the  abode  of  many  invertebrata,  and  so  may  have 
continued  for  a  time  previous  to  the  appearance  of  ter- 
restrial beings.  But  all  this  does  not  prove  transforma- 
tion of  one  animal  into  another,  nor  the  progression  of 
life  from  sea  to  land.  It  remains  to  be  proved — and  the 
onus  probandi  lies  with  those  who  make  the  assertion — 
that  marine  animals  can,  by  any  force  of  circumstances, 
or  in  any  course  of  time,  however  long,  become  converted 
into  beings  fitted  to  a  new  sphere  of  life  on  land. 

If  certain  terrestrial  conditions  have  preceded  the  ap- 
pearance of  animals  suited  to  them,  we  have  in  all  this 
a  manifestation  of  the  foresight  and  beneficence  of  the 
Author  of  all,  and  proof  of  a  method  which  pervades  all 
creation.  The  bird  constructs  its  nest  before  the  callow 
brood  appears  ;  the  bee  lays  in  a  store  of  food  when  the 
flowers  yield  their  sweet  juices  in  abundance,  and  long- 
before  winter  arrives  ;  an  internal  instinct  leads  to  innu- 

14* 


322  TRACES   OF    PLAN 

merable  acts  on  the  part  of  animals  for  the  preservation 
of  their  own  lives,  and  for  their  young.  In  a  word,  there 
are  acts  of  anticipation  flowing  from  instinct,  which  have 
a  special  relation  to  some  important  end  as  yet  in  the 
womb  of  time.  And  when  we  attribute  foresight  and 
work  of  anticipation  to  Him  "  Avho  knows  the  end  from  the 
beginning,"  we  do  not  consider  such  as  derogating  from 
the  infinitude  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Great  Creator. 

We  find  so  many  remarkable  relations  between  the 
physical  condition  of  our  earth  and  the  wellbeing  of  its 
races,  that  we  cannot  avoid  seeing  in  the  historical  evi- 
dence of  geology  some  traces  of  order,  a  winter,  a  spring, 
the  seed-time,  and  a  harvest  of  creation  ;  a  winter  when 
life  was  absent  ;  a  spring  when  preparation  for  it  was 
accomplished,  and  an  era  when  it  was  called  into  being ; 
and  so  sucessively  to  the  time  when  the  highest  created 
intelligence  of  our  earth  was  brought  forward  to  take  pos- 
session and  occupy  the  earth  now  prepared  for  him.  As 
taking  this  view,  Ave  think  that  the  argument  in  favour 
of  progressive  development  and  transmutation  of  species, 
founded  on  the  pre-existence  of  conditions  fitted  for  or- 
ganic life — before  that  life  appeared — is  of  no  value. 

The  late  Professor  E.  Forbes,  by  whose  researches 
geology  has  been  so  much  enriched,  has  propounded  an 
ingenious  theory  on  this  subject.*  In  order  to  charac- 
terize it  he  uses  the  term,  "  Polarity  in  Time,"  as  expres- 
sive of  a  law  which  corresponds  to  the  primitive  plan  of  the 
Divine  creation,  but  which,  as  being  Divine,  is  completely 
independent  of  the  notion  of  time,  although  only  com- 
prehensible by  us  in  relation  to  time.  The  different 
geological  epochs  he  comprehends  under  two  heads,  the 
Pakeozoie,  or  most  ancient,  and  the  more  modern,  styled 
Neozoic.     On  comparing  these  he  finds  that  "  the  mani- 

*  Royal  Institution,  Evening  Meeting,  April  28, 1854. 


IN    FOSSIL    REMAINS. 


323 


festations  of  generic  types  during  each  exhibit  striking 
and  contrasting  phenomena.  The  maximum  development 
of  generic  types  during  the  Palaeozoic  period  was  during 
its  earlier  epochs  ;  that  during  the  Neozoic  period  towards 
its  later  epochs." 

The  following  table   renders   the  meaning  more  evi- 
dent : — 


rr>  t      J*  „.•  i.     I  Epoch   of  maximum  develop- 

Present  and  tertiary  epochs,  I     *  r 


Neozoic 
period, 


Cretaceous  epochs, 


period. 


Oolitic  epochs,     . 
>  Triassic  epochs,    .     . 
Permian  epochs,  .     . 
Palaeozoic    J  Carboniferous  epochs, 


Devonian  epochs, 
Silurian  epochs,  . 


•|      ment    of    Neozoic    generic 

(      types. 

Intermediate. 

\  Epochs  of  poverty  of  production 

(      of  generic  types  in  time. 

Intermediate. 

!  Epoch  of  maximum  develop- 
ment of  Palaeozoic  generic 
types. 


But  besides  the  concentration  of  a  maximum  of  gene- 
ric types  toward  the  earlier  stages  of  one  and  the  later 
of  the  other  great  period,  he  thinks  also  there  is  a  sub- 
stitution of  group  for  group  during  the  contrasting  epochs, 
as  shewn  by  the  following  comparison : — 


Neozoic. 
Cycloid  and  Ctenoid  fishes. 
Malacostraeous  Crustacea. 
Dibranchiate  Cephalopoda. 
Lamellibranchiate  Acephala. 
Echinoidea. 
Six-starred  Corals. 


Palaeozoic. 
Ganoid  and  Placoid  fishes. 
Entomostracous  Crustacea. 
Tetrabranchiate  Cephalopoda. 
Palliobranchiate  Acephala 
Crinoidea. 
Four-starred  Corals. 


Some  objections  have  been  made  to  the  general  classi- 
fication of  geological  epochs  adopted  by  the  author  of 
these  views.*     Where  experienced  and  professed  geolo- 

*  The  objections  refer  to  the  position  of  the  Permian  and  Triassic  epochs  in  the  tabular 
view,  and  the  propriety  of  comparing  the  primary  period  with  the  Jurassic,  Chalk,  and 
Tertiary  formations. 


324  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

gists  arc  at  issue,  it  would  be  presumption  in  us  to  offer 
any  dogmatic  decision  ;  but  we  cannot  belp  thinking  that 
an  obvious  objection  applies  here — and  indeed,  more  or 
less  to  every  theory — it  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted 
that  we  have  almost,  if  not  altogether,  attained  a  suffi- 
ciently complete  knowledge  of  extinct  forms.  This  is 
surely  far  from  being  the  case,  and  the  lamented  author 
of  the  theory  of  Polarity  had  himself,  in  his  comparatively 
brief  career,  contributed  so  largely  to  our  records  of  extinct 
beings,  that  there  is  room  for  expectation  that  very  much 
still  remains  to  be  done,  and  that  more  information  must 
flow  in  as  time  rolls  on. 

But  we  pass  on  to  another  opinion,  which  seems,  upon 
the  whole,  very  consistent  with  facts  hitherto  revealed  by 
the  observations  of  palaeontologists. 

As  there  is  a  certain  law  of  progress  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  young  animal  to  the  day  of  its  birth,  so  there 
seem  to  be  some  traces  of  parallelism  to  this  in  the  order 
of  creation — a  progress  in  uterine  life,  and  a  parallel 
march  in  the  womb  of  time,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Creation  to  the  day  when  man  was  ushered  into  existence. 
In  the  development  of  the  animal,  Von  Baer  has  shewn 
that  "  the  more  special  type  is  developed  from  the  more 
general"  There  seem  to  be  proofs  of  similar  progress  in 
time. 

The  subject  has  been  very  fully  illustrated  bjT  Professor 
Owen  in  his  various  writings.  He  remarks,  "  As  we  ad- 
vance in  our  survey  of  the  organization  and  metamor- 
phoses of  animals,  we  shall  meet  with  many  examples 
in  which  the  embryonic  forms  and  conditions  of  struc- 
ture of  existing  species  have,  at  former  periods,  been 
persistent  and  common,  and  represented  by  mature  and 
procreative  species,  sometimes  upon  a  gigantic  scale/'0 

*  Lectures  on  the  Invertebrate. 


IN    FOSSIL    REMAINS.  325 

The  common  crab,  in  the  different  periods  of  its  life,  re- 
presents conditions  which  resemble  those  met  with  in  the 
Crustacea  of  succeeding  geological  epochs. 


2.  Macrourous.     (Tail  long,)     .        .      j 


DEVELOPMENT  OP  THE   COMMON  CRAB.  EXTINCT   CRUSTACEA. 

1.  Entomostracous,  ....        Trilobites  of  the  Palaeozoic  age. 

Crustacea  of  the   Oolite    forma- 
tion. 

3.  Anomourous.     (Tail  moderately  de-  j  Crustacea  of   the   Chalk  forma- 

veloped,  and  of  soft  consistence,)      l      tion. 

4.  Brachyourous,   the  adult  condition.  \ 

(Tail  short,  and  turned  in  beneath  I  Crustacea  of  the  Tertiary  epoch, 
the  thorax,)  ) 

Other  examples  might  be  cited  ;  the  above  is  suffi- 
cient for  our  purpose.  It  must,  however,  be  specially 
observed,  that  "  no  extinct  species  could  be  reproduced 
by  arresting  the  development  of  any  known  existing 
species  of  Crustacea  ;  and  every  species  of  every  period 
was  created  most  perfect  in  relation  to  the  circumstances 
and  sphere  in  which  it  was  destined  to  exist."* 

But  extinct  forms  are  not  always  the  representatives 
merely  of  the  earlier  stages  of  higher  forms  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  creation.  We  find  another  principle  illus- 
trated :  in  some  instances  it  is  very  evident  that  the 
earlier  forms  "  present  in  combination  those  characters 
which  are  found  to  be  separately  distributed,  and  more 
distinctly  manifested  among  groups  that  have  subse- 
quently made  their  appearance/'f 

A  remarkable  extinct  order  of  Echinodermata  has 
been  very  fully  examined  and  described  by  the  late 
Professor  E.  Forbes — the  Cystidea  :  it  illustrates  the 
point  alluded  to. 

*  Owen's  Lectures  ou  Invertebrata. 

+  Carpenter's  Principles  of  Comparative  Physiology,  p.  112,  4th  edition.     In  this  ad 
mirable  work  the  reader  will  find  a  very  lucid  demonstration  of  the  subject 


326  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

Paleozoic.  Recext. 

Order  Cystidea.  A  stem,  and  intes-  )  Order  Crinoidea.  A  stem,  and  in- 
tine  with  two  openings.  )      testine  with  two  openings. 

Order  Cystidea.  Certain  species  have  }  Order  Ophiurida.  Rays  or  arms 
arms  like  those  of  Ophiurida.  I      snake-like,  spines  for  locomotion. 

Order  Cystidea.  In  certain  genera  )  Order  Asteriada.  Body  lobed,  that 
the  body  is  lobed.  )      is,  angular  or  rayed. 

Order  Cystidea.  Body  enclosed  in  [  Order  Echinida.  Spherical  or  de- 
a  shell  of  polygonal  plates.  )      pressed  shell,  of  polygonal  plates. 

Order  Cystidea.  Ovarian  opening  )  Order  Holothuriada.  Ovarian  open- 
single.  >      iug  single. 

From  the  above  comparison,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
single  extinct  order  Cystidea  comprehended  in  itself 
characters  which  are,  so  to  speak,  divided  among  five 
orders  at  the  present  day.  We  have  here,  therefore,  a 
very  notable  instance  of  a  progress  from  the  more 
general  character  to  the  more  special  in  the  lapse  of 
time — for  the  orders  in  the  right  hand  column  were  very 
partially  represented  in  earlier  epochs,  and  some  of  them 
did  not  exist  at  all.  Other  illustrations  might  be 
brought  forward  among  Vertebrata  ;  we  shall  only  allude 
to  one,  as  regards  dentition.  Professor  Owen  remarks 
that  the  typical  character  of  the  dentition  was  more 
closely  and  generally  adhered  to  in  genera  than  existed 
during  the  oldest  tertiary  epochs  in  -geology,  Hum  in 
their  actual  sticcessors.  The  earlier  forms  of  mammals, 
whether  herbivorous  or  carnivorous,  very  generally  pre- 
sented the  typical  number  of  teeth,  (p.  215,)  whereas,  in 
the  present  day,  such  dental  character  is  the  exception 
and  not  the  rule. 

It  would  be  presumptuous  in  any  one,  at  the  present 
stage  of  science,  to  suppose  that  he  had  been  able 
adequately  to  apprehend  the  plan  in  the  Divine  mind ; 
but  these  facts  seem  to  show  that  there  has  been  an 


IN   FOSSIL    REMAINS.  327 

advancing  series  of  some  kind,  proceeding  all  the  while 
on  a  uniform  plan. 

III.  Peophetic  Plan. — We  are  next  to  inquire 
whether  the  earlier  books  of  the  stone-volume  present 
any  records  of  organic  forms,  which  point  to  higher  forms 
to  come  forth  in  later  epochs;  whether  it  discloses  any- 
foreshadowing  of  beings  that  were  to  follow  ;  and  espe- 
cially of  man,  the  consummation  of  all. 

The  nature  of  the  divine  and  creative  act  by  which  the 
earliest  of  earth's  creatures  were  summoned  into  being 
must  ever  remain  unknown  to  us.  But  it  is  allowable  to 
examine  the  aspect  of  these  early  organisms,  and  inquire 
into  the  relations  which  they  bear  to  the  succeeding  series 
of  animated  beings.  Our  position  in  time,  and  the  van- 
tage ground  on  which  natural  science  enables  us  to  take 
our  stand,  admit  of  our  drawing  an  instructive  comparison 
between  the  forms  of  the  Fauna  in  earlier  epochs,  and 
those  that  appeared  in  later  times.  We  confine  our  at- 
tention, in  what  follows,  to  the  Vertebrate  type. 

Siluria,  rendered  notable  by  the  resistance  of  Carac- 
tacus  to  the  invaders  of  his  country,  is  as  famous  in  geo- 
logy, as  its  former  people  are  in  the  history  of  ancient 
Britain.  In  its  rocks  are  a  succession  of  strata  which 
reveals  to  us  what  seems  the  dawn  of  creation  in  our 
world.  Its  signatures  appear  to  be  the  most  ancient  re- 
cords of  organic  life.  Those  beautiful  organisms,  the 
Graptolites,  are  not  found  in  any  palaeozoic  rock  younger 
than  the  Silurian  ;*  and  only  one — the  Graptolites  prio- 
don — is  plentiful  in  the  upper  divisions  of  that  system, 
Grap.  Flemingii  of  the  Wenlock  rock  being  rare.f  We 
have,  therefore,  a  mark  by  which  to  determine  the  re- 
lative age  of  the  upper  Ludlow  bone-bed,  in  which  the 

*  Murchisons  Siluiia,  p.  4T.  U»id.v  p.  208, 


328  TRACES    OF    PLAN 

earliest  vertebrate  remains  occur.  There  is  clear  evidence 
that  they  belonged  to  fishes,  and,  consequently,  animals 
formed  after  the  vertebrate  model.  This  is  enough ; 
here  we  find  at  a  very  early  period,  a  plan  of  structure 
which  has  appeared  under  various  modifications  in  every 
subsequent  era. 

Those  few  species  of  the  upper  Silurian  period  were 
but  the  herald  to  indicate  the  subsequent  advent  of  those 
of  the  old  red  sandstone,  remarkable  not  only  for  their 
numbers,  and  their  singularly  bizarre  forms,  but  some  of 
them  especially  interesting  in  relation  to  this  head  of  our 
subject.  The  highest  authorities  are  agreed  as  to  their 
general  place  in  the  class  of  fishes,  and  the  names  of 
Agassiz,  of  Professor  Fleming,  of  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  and 
others,  must  ever  remain  associated  with  the  elucidation 
of  the  history  of  these  singular  beings. 

As  the  Onchus  of  the  Ludlow  rock  announced,  as  it 
were,  the  dawn  of  vertebrate  life,  and  foreshadowed  also 
others  of  its  own  class  that  were  to  follow,  so  the  Holopty- 
chus,  and  others  of  the  old  red  sandstone,  in  turn  pointed 
forwards  to  the  Reptilian  class.  The  term  Sauroid  (lizard- 
like) has  been  applied  to  many  extinct,  and  a  few  living 
forms,  in  order  to  indicate  their  relationship  to  the 
reptiles.  The  still  existing  Lepidosteus  of  America,  and 
Polypterus  of  the  Nile  and  of  Senegal,  present  a  combin- 
ation of  characters  eminently  developed  in  not  a  few  of 
those  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  Devonian  epoch,  (Old  Red 
Sandstone.)  We  can  here  take  shelter  under  the  high 
authority  of  Agassiz,  who  remarks,  "  In  Lepidosteus  the 
articulation  of  the  vertebras  differs  from  that  of  the  verte- 
brae of  all  other  fishes,  no  less  than  the  structure  of  their 
scales.  The  extremities,  especially  the  pectoral  limbs, 
assume  a  higher  development  than  in  fishes  generally. 
The  jaws,    also,  and   the   structure   of  the   teeth,   are 


IN    FOSSIL    REMAINS.  329 

equally  peculiar.  Hence  it  is  plain  that  before  the  class 
of  reptiles  was  introduced  upon  our  globe,  the  fishea 
being  then  the  only  representatives  of  the  type  of  verte- 
brata,  were  invested  with  the  character  of  a  higher  order, 
embodying,  as  it  were,  a  prospective  view  of  a  higher  de- 
velopment in  another  class,  which  was  introduced  as  a 
distinct  type  only  at  a  later  period  ;  and  from  that  time 
the  reptilian  character  which  had  been  so  permanent  in 
the  oldest  fishes  was  gradually  reduced,  till  in  more  re- 
cent periods,  and  in  the  present  creation,  the  fishes  lost 
all  their  herpetological  relationship,  and  were  at  last  en- 
dowed with  characters  which  contrast  as  much  with  those 
of  Eeptiles  as  they  agreed  closely  in  the  beginning."* 

In  a  few  existing  forms,  (Lepidosteus  of  America,  and 
Polypterus  of  the  Nile,)  and  in  all  primeval  fishes,  the 
pelvis  and  posterior  limbs  retained  their  position  in  con- 
nexion with  the  point  of  junction  of  trunk  and  tail, 
a  character  indicating  superiority  of  type.  This  does 
not  apply  to  the  fishes  of  subsequent  epochs,  for,  from  the 
period  of  the  chalk  formation  down  to  our  own  day,  a 
large  proportion  of  them  have  the  ventral  or  hind  fins  re- 
moved from  the  typical  position  and  placed  far  forwards, 
near  the  head. 

Such  position  of  posterior  limbs  in  the  very  dawn  of  ver- 
tebrate creation,  indicates  an  arrangement  which  was  large- 
ly to  prevail  in  the  vertebrata  of  subsequent  epochs. 

The  Telerpeton  of  the  Elgin  sandstone  ushered  in  the 
dawn  of  reptilian  life  ;  it  is  the  earliest  of  its  class  yet 
known  to  us.  Fitted  for  a  sphere  of  existence  different 
from  that  proper  to  fishes,  it  presents  to  our  view  a  new 
modification  of  the  vertebrate  plan.  Its  well  developed 
limbs  point  to  a  character  which  was  to  come  forth  more 
prominently  in  succeeding  periods. 

*  Natural  History  of  Lake  Superior. 


330  TRACES   OF   PLAN 

In  1726,  Scheuchzer  detected,  in  the  comparatively  re- 
cent rock  of  (Eningen,  a  fossil  which  he  set  down  as  hu- 
man, styling  it  "  homo  diluvii  testis/'  (man  a  witness  of 
the  flood.)"5  This  opinion  did  not  stand  the  test  of  com- 
parative anatomy,  and  the  supposed  human  relic  turned 
out  to  be  that  of  a  large  salamander.  The  time  had  not 
yet  arrived  for  the  advent  of  man  ;  long  ages  had  yet  to 
roll  on  before  the  consummation  of  the  vertebrate  type  ; 
the  preparations  for  man's  appearance  were  not  yet  com- 
pleted. Nevertheless,  in  this  fossil  of  Scheuchzer's,  there 
was  a  prefiguration  of  the  more  perfect  type  which  man's 
bony  framework  presents. 

In  1847,  Professor  Plieninger  of  Stutgardt  found  two 
fossil  molar  teeth,  which  must  have  belonged  to  a  warm- 
blooded quadruped  ;  they  were  disinterred  from  a  bone- 
bed  in  Wurtemburg,  lying  between  the  Lias  and  Keuper 
formations.  The  original  owner  of  these  interesting  relics 
is  supposed  to  have  been  an  insect-feeder.  A  well-marked 
tooth,  pronounced  on  the  highest  authority,  to  have  been 
that  of  a  warm-blooded  quadruped,  implies  adaptations 
of  the  vertebrate  archetype  of  a  far  higher  character  than 
any  yet  indicated  in  previous  geological  records.  Such  a 
relic  indicates  associations  of  structure  which  are  found  in 
man  himself;  and  at  this  point  in  the  earth's  history,  we 
have  the  herald  of  the  great  mammalian  class  at  the  head 
of  which  man  is  placed — the  first  in  nature,  though  the 
last  in  time. 

Certain  bipedal  footsteps  in  the  new  red  sandstone  of 
Connecticut,  are  recognized  as  those  of  birds.  Man,  the 
true  biped,  was  to  appear  in  a  subsequent  and  still  distant 
epoch. 

But  such  early  impressions  and  remains  are  not  with- 

*  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  origin  of  the  human  species  is  of  comparatively 
modern  date.  All  fossil  human  remains,  those  of  Guadaloupe,  for  oxamplo,  are  withia 
the  historical  epoch. 


IN   FOSSIL    REMAINS.  331 

out  their  instruction  ;  we  may  recognise  in  all  these  pre- 
existcnt  beings  the  same  type  of  skeleton,  the  beau  ideal 
of  which  was  to  come  forward  in  the  time  appointed,  after 
the  lapse  of  long  ages. 

Fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammals,  predecessors  of 
man,  presented  in  their  frames  anticipations  of  more 
perfect  structures  which  characterize  Mm.  They  had 
arrangements  to  protect  the  eye  and  the  organ  of  hearing, 
a  bony  vault  to  contain  the  brain,  and  limbs  for  various 
functions  necessary  to  their  wellbeing. 

The  Supreme  could  foresee  that  which  was  to  come, 
and  which  He  had  pre-ordained  ;  the  revelations  of  geo- 
logy enables  us  to  take  a  retrospective  view.  But  they  do 
more  ;  they  afford  us  the  means  of  exercising  a  reflex 
faculty ;  we  can  examine  the  first  figure  in  the  vertebrate 
series,  and  from  that  point  look  down  the  long  vistas 
which  are  opened,  to  the  period  when  man  appears  as  the 
final  and  foreseen  product  of  the  one  mighty  plan — the 
last  in  time,  but  the  first  in  the  contemplation  of  Him 
who  called  them  all  into  being.  Precedent  vertebrata 
snadowed  forth  certain  peculiarities  of  frame  and  of 
psychical  powers,  which  have  their  full,  and  evidently  in- 
tended, significance  brought  out  and  manifested  only  in 
man.  When  he  appears  on  the  scene  which  had  been  so 
long  prepared,  and,  as  it  were,  waiting  for  him,  the  con- 
summation of  the  earthly  type  comes  out  ; — in  a  goodly 
frame,  with  gait  erect ;  in  eyes  to  contemplate,  and  men- 
tal faculties  to  appreciate,  the  beauty  of  the  objects 
around  him  ;  in  limbs  to  bear  that  frame  upright,  and 
carry  it  on  in  the  fulfillment  of  its  high  sphere  of  duties  ; 
and  in  hands  to  minister  to  the  wants  of  the  individual 
and  of  his  fellows.  Doubtless  the  structure  of  his  body 
binds  him  to  the  earth's  surface,  but  he  has  mental 
powers  which  enables  him  to  soar  from  earth  to  heaven, 


33-  TRACES   OF   PLAN 

to  penetrate  far  into  the  regions  of  space,  and  throw  back 
a  reflective  glance  upon  the  remotest  points  of  time. 

In  the  exercise  of  these  mental  faculties,  it  is  expected 
of  him  that  he  should  contemplate  with  wonder  and  ado- 
ration the  wondrous  scene  spread  out  before  him  ;  and 
in  the  survey  of  the  past  he  can  discover  that  the  earliest 
fishes  of  the  palaeozoic  age  pointed  onwards  to  a  higher 
realization  of  the  vertebrate  plan  ;  that  the  plan  has 
never  in  any  succeeding  age  been  departed  from  ;  that 
it  was  at  last  perfected  in  his  own  wonderful  frame ; 
and  that  all  this  had  been  from  eternity  in  the  counsel  of 
Him  who  worketh  in  the  whole  from  the  beginning  unto 
the  end. 

We  are  happy  to  be  able  to  adduce,  in  favour  of  this 
general  view,  the  testimony  of  the  two  greatest  living 
comparative  anatomists.  "It  is  evident,"  says  Agassiz,* 
"  that  there  is  a  manifest  progress  in  the  succession  of 
beings  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  progress  con- 
sists in  an  increasing  similarity  to  the  living  fauna,  and 
among  the  vertebrata,  especially  in  their  increasing 
resemblance  to  man.  But  this  connection  is  not  the 
consequence  of  a  direct  lineage  between  the  faunas  of 
different  ages.  There  is  nothing  like  parental  descent 
connecting  them.  The  fishes  of  the  Palaeozoic  age  are 
in  no  respect  the  ancestors  of  the  reptiles  of  the  secon- 
dary age,  nor  does  man  descend  from  the  mammals  which 
preceded  him  in  the  tertiary  age.  The  link  by  which 
they  are  connected  is  of  a  higher  and  immaterial  nature  ; 
and  their  connexion  is  to  be  sought  in  the  view  of  the 
Creator  Himself,  whose  aim  in  forming  the  earth,  in 
allowing  it  to  undergo  the  successive  changes  which  geo- 
logy has  pointed  out,  and  in  creating  successively  all  the 
different  types  of  animals  which  have  passed  away,  was 

*  Agassiz  and  Gould's  Comparative  Physiology,  p.  41T. 


IN   FOSSIL   REMAINS.  333 

to  introduce  man  upon  its  surface.  Man  is  the  end  to- 
wards which  all  the  animal  creation  has  tended  from  the 
first  appearance  of  the*  first  Palaeozoic  fishes."  The  lan- 
guage of  Owen  is  equally  explicit.*  "  The  recognition  of 
an  ideal  exemplar  in  the  vertebrated  animals  proves  that 
the  knowledge  of  such  a  being  as  man  must  have  existed 
before  man  appeared  ;  for  the  Divine  Mind  which 
planned  the  archetype  also  foreknew  all  its  modifications. 
The  archetype  idea  was  manifested  in  the  flesh  long 
prior  to  the  existence  of  those  animal  species  that  actually 
exemplify  it.  To  what  natural  laws  or  secondary  causes 
the  orderly  succession  and  progression  of  such  organic 
phenomena  may  have  been  committed,  we  are  as  yet  igno- 
rant. But  if,  without  derogation  of  the  Divine  power,  we 
may  conceive  of  the  existence  of  such  ministers,  and  per- 
sonify them  by  the  term  '  Nature,'  we  learn  from  the 
past  history  of  our  globe  that  she  has  advanced  with  slow 
and  stately  steps,  guided  by  the  archetypal  light  amidst 
the  wreck  of  worlds,  from  the  first  embodiment  of  the 
vertebrate  idea  under  its  old  ichthyic  vestment,  until  it 
became  arrayed  in  the  glorious  garb  of  the  human 
form." 

SECT.  II. ADAPTATIONS    OF   FOSSIL    ORGANISMS   TO   THEIR 

FUSTCTIOXS.       PREPARATIONS    FOR   MAN. 

Plants. — The  stem  of  the  extinct  plant  (now  converted 
into  stone)  must  have  been  as  well  fitted  to  sustain  itself 
erect,  to  receive  and  convey  the  fluids  taken  in  by  the 
roots,  and  to  support  leaves  for  the  elaboration  of  these 
fluids,  as  the  axis  of  any  of  our  living  trees.  If  we  meet 
with  but  the  impression  of  a  leaf,  we  cannot  avoid  draw- 
ing the  conclusion  that  the  original,  now  lost  to  us,  must 

*  On  Limbs,  p.  86. 


334  ADAPTATIONS   OF    FOSSIL   ORGANISMS 

have  had  a  framework  of  veins  and  an  arrangement  of 
the  softer  tissues  to  enable  the  organ  to  fulfil  its  func- 
tions. But  any  doubt  existing  on  this  point  is  removed 
by  the  investigations  of  Groppert,  who  has  found,  in  the 
coal  of  Silesia  and  other  countries,  vegetable  remains  in 
such  a  state  of  preservation  that  he  could  point  out  the 
structure  of  the  cuticle,  and  of  its  numerous  stomata  or 
pores.  He  has  also  fallen  in  with  a  fossil  plant,  nearly 
allied  to  the  birch,  with  its  branches  bearing  flowers. 
And  as,  in  our  day,  pine  forests  emit  clouds  of  yellow 
pollen,  (giving  rise  to  reports  of  showers  of  sulphur,)  so 
the  giant  pines  of  the  ancient  world  have  left  proofs  of 
their  existence,  in  abundant  deposits  of  the  same  material, 
characterizing  certain  strata  in  Bohemia  and  other  local- 
ities. On  finding,  in  a  geological  formation,  any  remain 
of  what  bears  evidence  of  having  been  a  fruit,  the  prin- 
ciple of  concurrence  between  structure  and  function  leads 
us  to  infer  with  confidence  that  the  said  fruit  must  have 
been  fitted  to  receive  the  pollen,  and  transmit  its  fertiliz- 
ing principle  to  the  ovule  or  ovules,  and  subsequently  to 
protect  them  during  the  process  of  ripening. 

Radiata. — In  fossil  Radiata,  the  original  hard  material 
of  the  body  may  remain,  or  silex  has  taken  its  place,  (as 
in  some  flints,)  or  merely  casts  of  the  organism  may  have 
been  preserved  for  our  inspection  ;  but  in  whatever  shape 
presented,  palaeontologists  invariably  proceed  in  their  ex- 
amination, whether  consciously  or  unconsciously,  from  the 
two  principles  of  a  plan  and  modifications. 

Corals  are  abundant,  even  from  the  most  ancient  fossili- 
ferous  strata  to  the  present  epoch.  In  the  seas  of  the 
primeval  earth,  they  were  effectual  agents  in  bringing 
about  changes  in  the  contour  of  the  land  surface  not  less 
important  than  those  which  are  but  too  familiar  to  our 
navigators  in  the  form  of  coral  reefs.     The  same  modifi- 


TO    THEIR    FUNCTIONS.  335 

cations  of  the  Kadiate  structure  which  fit  our  modern 
coral-builders  for  the  part  they  are  to  play  in  the  eco- 
nomy of  nature,  must  have  existed  in  species  long  since 
extinct. 

The  Wenlock  limestone  of  Siluria  abounds  in  remains 
which  afford  unmistakable  proofs  of  the  agency  of  coral- 
builders  even  in  a  very  remote  epoch.  Species  of  Favo- 
sites,  of  Stenopora,  of  Heliolites,  (one  of  which  is  said 
to  resemble  the  Heliopora  caerulca  of  the  Australian 
reefs,)  were  silently  at  work  in  former  times,  abstracting 
from  the  sea-water  its  calcareous  matter,  and  transform- 
ing it  into  shapes  which  now  delight  us  by  their  regu- 
larity, while  at  the  same  time,  they  aided  in  adding  to  the 
solid  part  of  our  earth's  crust.  Proofs  of  similar  agency 
occur  in  the  carboniferous  limestone,  the  reefs  of  which, 
now  rearing  their  crests  far  above  the  level  of  the  existing 
ocean,  present  us  with  evidences  of  some  of  the  scenes  and 
changes  through  which  our  world  has  passed  during  its 
eventful  history. 

In  different  geological  strata,  we  meet  with  very  per- 
fect relics  of  Echinodermata,  shewing  modifications  of 
the  type  to  which  they  belong,  similar  to  the  star-fishes 
and  urchins  of  our  seas.  Different  adaptations  for  de- 
fence, for  capture  of  food,  and  for  locomotion,  present 
themselves  to  us  in  species  which  have  long  since  perished, 
as  in  those  with  which  we  are  so  familiar.  They  give 
evidence  of  relations  of  hard  parts,  and  modifications  of 
form,  and  relations  of  form  and  function,  similar  to  those 
which  we  can  read  in  a  relic  of  any  existing  species  cast 
up  by  the  tide,  or  put  to  the  test,  if  we  choose,  in  the 
living  animals  themselves. 

The  Pentacrinus  Briareus  of  the  Lias  is  sometimes 
found  attached  to  fossil  wood,  which  must  have  belonged 
to  some  ancient  tree,  whose  fragments  formed  drift-wood 


336  ADAPTATIONS    OF    FOSSIL    ORGANISMS 

in  the  sea  in  which  this  singular  Echinoderm  lived.  It  was 
a  stalked  species,  characterized  by  excessive  repetition 
and  subdivision  of  the  radiate  arms,  ever  ready  to  secure 
the  prey,  as  the  animal  was  borne  along  on  its  wooden 
float.  If  any  doubt  could  exist  respecting  the  modifica- 
tions of  the  radiate  type  in  this  extinct  Pentacrinite,  it 
must  be  dispelled  when  we  compare  it  with  the  singularly 
organized  species  (Pentacrinus  caput-Medusse)  which  still 
lives  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

In  the  upper  Silurian  rocks,  we  find  preserved  to  us  an 
extinct  form,  which  must  have  perished  in  the  very  act 
of  feeding.  The  Marsupiocrinites  cselatus  is  frequently 
found  with  its  proboscis  inserted  into  the  shell  of  a  mol- 
lusc, (Acroculia  Haliotis,) — both  alike  extinct. 

In  various  strata  we  meet  with  abundance  of  animals 
allied  to  the  sea-urchins  of  our  coasts.  We  can  recog- 
nise in  the  one,  as  in  the  other,  some  adaptations  of  the 
hard  parts  to  form  a  strongly  arched  shell  for  protection, 
pierced  with  holes  for  the  protrusion  of  the  suckers,  and 
presenting  the  same  arrangement  of  spines  moving  by 
ball-and-socket  joints. 

Articulata. — Animals  constructed  after  the  Articulate 
type  had  their  representatives  from  the  most  ancient 
periods  in  which  traces  of  organized  beings  appear, 
(Lower  Silurian,)  down  to  the  most  recent  epoch  which 
preceded  our  own. 

The  Crustacean  sub-type  was  a  characteristic  feature 
of  the  Lower  Silurian  fauna  :  the  singular  Trilobites 
must  have  swarmed  in  those  early  periods,  and  the  re- 
mains handed  down  to  us,  while  they  shew  conformity  to 
a  general  plan,  present  also  an  almost  endless  variety  in 
the  sculpture  of  their  exoskeleton  and  the  nature  of  its 
contour.  The  admirable  investigations  of  Burmeister 
have  thrown  great  light  on  the  organization  and  habits 


TO   THEIR   FUNCTIONS.  337 

of  these  remarkable  Crustaceans.  They  were  nearly 
allied  to  the  Phyllopoda,  characterized  by  the  bladder- 
like gills — the  modified  palp  and  fiabellum  of  the  appen- 
dage. The  Silurian  strata  yield  them  in  great  numbers, 
and  their  bodies  are  often  found  rolled  up,  so  that  the 
head  and  tail  are  in  contact.  The  best  authorities  seem 
to  be  agreed  as  to  the  adaptations  of  the  type,  in  these 
ancient  Crustaceans,  to  fit  them  for  the  kind  of  life 
assigned  to  them.  They  constituted  a  remarkable  feature 
3f  the  Fauna  of  the  Silurian  Ocean.  The  soft  abdomen, 
and  its  delicate  appendages,  were  liable  to  injury,  and 
by  way  of  compensation,  they  possessed  the  power,  when 
alarmed,  of  doubling  up  the  body,  so  as  to  bring  the  tail 
under  the  head — the  hard  covering  of  the  back  thus  serv- 
ing to  protect  the  more  delicate  under  parts.  The  sud- 
den catastrophe,  which  in  some  instances  must  have  oc- 
casioned their  destruction  and  their  imbedding  in  the 
mud  of  the  primeval  ocean,  induced  also  that  change  in 
position  to  which  we  have  alluded,  and  hence  the  occur- 
rence of  rolled-up  Trilobites  in  the  Silurian  rocks. 

In  some  parts  of  the  -Old  Red  Sandstone  formations, 
fragments  of  a  giant  crustacean  have  been  occasionally 
met  with.  Being  allied  to  the  existing  Limulus,  or 
king-crab,  of  warmer  regions,  the  extinct  species  must 
have  presented  similar  adaptations  ; — the  limbs  differing 
little  from  each  other  ;  the  more  anterior  serving  for 
capture,  retention,  and  mastication  of  the  food,  as  well 
as  for  locomotion. 

Other  articulata  of  the  primeval  world  have  been  found 
in  excellent  preservation.  In  the  gypseous  marl  of  Aix, 
spiders  are  not  unfrequently  found.  And  in  some  speci- 
mens, the  spinnerets  are  distinctly  perceptible.  These 
species,  now  lost  to  us,  were,  therefore,  like  our  living 
forms,  provided  with  similar  modifications  of  abdominal 

15 


338  ADAPTATIONS   OF    FOSSIL   ORGANISMS 

appendages  for  spinning  the  delicate  web  to  ensnare 
their  victims. 

Fossil  insects,  belonging  to  different  orders,  are  not 
uncommon  in  certain  strata.  We  can  recognize  Neu- 
roptera,  Coleoptera,  Diptera,  and  others,  all  implying 
well-known  adaptation  of  the  articulate  type.  In  the 
Lacustrine  deposits  of  (Eningen,  a  species  of  dragon-fly  is 
found  in  its  different  stages  of  larva,  of  pupa,  and  of 
perfect  insect. 

MoUusca. — A  skilled  conchologist,  finding  a  bivalve  or 
a  spiral  shell  on  a  sea-beach,  has  little  difficulty  in  form- 
ing an  opinion  as  to  the  general  characters  of  the  being 
which  reared  such  a  habitation  for  itself.  And  so  it  is 
when  similar  remains  are  disinterred  from  some  stratum 
of  the  earth's  crust. 

There  seems  to  exist  no  doubt  respecting  the  nature 
of  those  fossils  called  Gomphoceras,  Orthoceras,  the 
Clymenia  of  the  Devonian  epoch,  the  Ammonite,  the 
Hamite,  and  the  Baculite.  They  were  the  Cephalopods 
of  the  primeval  seas,  and,  in  general  organization,  were 
allied  to  the  cuttle-fishes  with  which  we  are  familiar. 
They  must  have  been  distinguished  by  their  voracious 
habits,  and  were  provided  with  the  necessary  means  of 
securing  and  resisting  the  struggles  of  their  prey.  Shells, 
which  were  built  up  by  the  ancient  cuttle-fishes,  abound 
in  various  strata,  and  enable  us  to  form  some  opinion 
respecting  the  animal  which  they  protected  and  sup- 
ported. We  can  recognize  an  apparatus  like  that  of  the 
living  Nautilus.  Compartments  of  the  shell,  not  occu- 
pied by  the  body  of  the  animal,  served  as  air-chambers, 
giving  buoyancy  to  the  whole,  and,  by  greater  or  less 
compression  of  the  air  so  enclosed,  afforded  a  simple 
means  of  rising  or  sinking  in  the  water.  It  is  no  ro- 
mance when  we  picture  to  ourselves  the  same   modifica- 


TO   THEIR   FUNCTIONS.  339 

tions  of  the  archetype  in  the  extinct  Cephalopoda,  which 
we  have  already  seen  to  characterize  those  which  are  our 
cotemporaries.  The  rapidity  of  their  varied  movements, 
and  their  powerful  arms,  provided  with  sucking  discs, 
must  have  rendered  them  formidable  enemies  to  their 
fellow-inhabitants  of  the  primeval  oceans.  But  if  any 
doubt  could  exist  respecting  the  general  organization  of 
the  beings  about  which  we  cannot  help  speculating,  such 
must  vanish  on  examining  the  relics,  or  at  least  one  spe- 
cies, which  have  been  presented  for  our  inspection.  The 
Oxford  clay  of  Chippenham  has  yielded  the  Belemnoteu- 
this  antiquus,  with  shell,  mantle,  fins,  ink-bag,  funnel, 
eyes,  and  tentacula  covered  with  sucking  discs  and  hooks. 
We  have  here,  therefore,  a  complete  epitome  of  structures 
which  we  find  in  specjes  which  are  our  cotemporaries,  and 
a  complete  confirmation  of  all  our  conjectures. 

In  certain  of  the  older  Silurian  rocks  there  have  been 
found  relics  which  must  have  belonged  to  species  of 
Pteropoda  ;  Conularia,  Theca,  &c„  are  examples.  As 
Creseis,  Cleodora,  and  others  of  our  own  time,  flit  from 
place  to  place  in  their  ocean  element — in  a  habitation  of 
their  own  building — so  the  extinct  species  have  made 
progression  by  wing-like  appendages,  a  modification  of 
the  epipodium  of  the  archetype.  But  there  were  giants 
on  the  earth  in  those  days.  Judging  from  their  shells, 
the  Pteropods  of  the  Silurian  ocean  greatly  exceeded  in 
dimensions  the  species  which  swarm  in  some  of  our  seas. 

Vertcbrata. — Not  only  do  we  find  in  fossil  remains 
evidence  of  the  first  great  law  we  have  been  illustrating, 
there  are  equally  clear  proofs  that  the  different  organs 
preserved  for  our  examination  had  a  final  cause,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  there  must  have 
been  a  concurrence  and  co-operation  of  other'  parts  to  ac- 
2omplish  the  end  in  view.     The  statement  of  Cuvier  on 


340  ADAPTATIONS    OF    FOSSIL    ORGANISMS 

this  point  can  never  bs  set  aside  ;  "  every  organized  in- 
dividual," says  he,  "  forms  an  entire  system  of  its  own, 
all  the  parts  of  which  mentally  correspond  and  concur  to 
produce  a  certain  definite  purpose  by  reciprocal  reaction, 
or  by  combining  towards  the  same  end."  "  If  the  viscera 
of  any  animal  are  so  organized  as  only  to  be  fit  for  the 
digestion  of  recent  flesh,  it  is  also  requisite  that  the  jaws 
should  be  so  constructed  for  seizing  and  retaining  it  ;  the 
teeth  for  cutting  and  dividing  its  flesh  ;  the  entire  sys- 
tem of  the  limbs,  or  the  organs  of  motion  for  pursuing  it 
and  overtaking  it,  and  the  organs  of  sense  for  discovering 
it  at  a  distance.  The  animal  must  also  have  been  en- 
dowed with  instinct  enough  sufficient  for  concealing  itself, 
and  for  laying  plans  to  catch  its  necessary  victims." 

The  giant  Megatherium  of  the  new  world  presents,  in 
itself,  an  epitome  of  departures  from  the  archetype  skele- 
ton for  special  ends.  Its  comparatively  light  skull  was 
supported  by  neck-vertebraa,  small  when  compared  with 
their  homotypes  in  other  parts  of  the  body.  Those  of 
the  loins  are  largely  developed  in  harmony  with  the  great 
size  and  strength  of  the  hind  limbs  ;  and  for  the  purpose 
of  additional  strength,  the  sacral  portion  is  united  in  a 
peculiar  way  to  the  pelvis.  The  vertebrae  of  the  tail  are 
of  large  dimensions,  commensurate  with  the  functions 
of  this  part,  which  was  used  as  an  additional  supporting 
pillar,  just  as  the  same  part  is  employed  by  the  living  Ar- 
madillo in  certain  of  its  movements.  The  high  develop- 
ment of  the  hamial  arches  of  the  Megatherium's  tail,  in- 
dicates that  the  blood-vessels  supplying  it  were  duly  pro-1 
tected  from  risk  of  injury  from  pressure.  Its  powerful 
arms  were  so  formed  as  to  allow  free  rotation  when  root- 
ing up  the  plants  necessary  for  subsistence,  the  strong 
hind  limbs  and  tail  together  forming  firm  pillars  of  sup- 
port during  the  process. 


TO    THEIK    FUNCTIONS.  341 

In  certain  geological  epochs,  the  earth  had  also 
its  feathered  inhabitants.  In  the  remains  which  have 
been  preserved  for  our  inspection,  we  find  special  adap- 
tations in  the  skeleton  such  as  occur  in  the  class  of  bird;-; 
generally,  and  also  local  modifications  in  harmony  with 
the  habits  of  the  particular  species.  The  giant  Dinornis 
of  New  Zealand  doubtless  employed  its  beak  as  a  kind  of 
pick-axe  (which  it  resembles  in  form)  for  digging  the 
farinaceous  roots  on  which  it  fed.  The  peculiarities  of 
the  neck-vertebras,  and  the  strong  ridges  and  processes  of 
the  occipital  part  of  the  head,  all  indicate  the  presence  of 
powerful  muscles  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  such  a  habit 
as  that  mentioned.* 

A  period  was,  when  numerous  reptiles,  of  varied  form 
and  habits,  constituted  a  leading  feature  of  the  Fauna  in 
the  primeval  world.  The  waters  swarmed  with  species 
fitted  for  aquatic  life  ;  others  roamed  on  the  dry  land ; 
and  not  a  few,  possessed  of  the  power  of  flight,  obtained 
sustenance  by  pursuit  and  capture  of  insects — pursuers 
and  prey  being  now  alike  extinct.  In  all  cases  the  relics 
which  have  been  discovered  present  such  marked  modi- 
fications, that  anatomists  are  agreed  as  to  the  habits 
of  the  species,  so  that  the  restoration  of-  their  forms 
and  descriptions  of  their  habits  with  which  we  have  been 
furnished  from  the  ready  pencil  and  graphic  pen  of 
palaeontologists,  however  romantic  they  may  seem,  are, 
we  believe,  nearer  the  truth  than  the  accounts  which 
have  sometimes  been  given  even  of  certain  animals  which 
still  exist.  The  Pterodactyles  (wing-fingered)  were  en- 
abled to  support  themselves  in  the  air  by  means  of  mem- 
branous expansions,  supported  principally  by  the  fifth 
digits  of  their  fore-limbs,  each  of  which  exceeded  in 
length  the  whole  vertebral  column  of  the  animal,  and 

*  Professor  Owen,  Zoological  Proceedings,  18-18. 


342  ADAPTATIONS    OF    FOSSIL    ORGANISMS 

was  therefore  not  a  little  finger,  though  the  homologue  of 
the  smallest  in  the  hand  of  man. 

In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  model  of  a  young  in- 
dividual of  an  extinct  colossal  tortoise  (Collossochselys 
Atlas)  from  India.  This  model  is  ten  feet  in  length, 
tvveny-five  in  horizontal  circumference,  and  fifteen  in  ver- 
tical girth,  a  third  less  than  in  the  full-grown  animal.  In 
this  giant  of  former  days  there  existed  the  same  singular 
modifications  of  skeleton  (p.  204)  which  we  have  already 
alluded  to  as  a  characteristic  of  tortoises  which  still  exist. 

The  fishes  which  glided  through  the  seas  of  the  primeval 
earth  have  left  behind  them  such  well-marked  relics  that 
we  can  see  pectoral  and  ventral  fins,  and  a  well-developed 
tail  for  aquatic  progression.  We  observe  that  the  same 
modifications  of  skeleton  and  appendages  had  the  same 
relation  to  the  wants  of  the  animals  which  we  find  in  the 
scaly  inhabitants  of  our  own  waters. 

The  teeth  of  extinct  vertebrata  are  found  in  such  abun- 
dance, and  in  such  a  state  of  preservation  as  to  afford  in- 
disputable evidence  of  special  adaptations,  whether  we 
examine  them  in  mammals,  reptiles,  or  fishes. 

The  gigantic  Iguanodon,  of  the  Wealdcn  formation, 
presents  singular  adaptations  in  the  form  and  structure 
of  the  dental  apparatus  with  which  it  was  provided.  "  To 
preserve  a  trenchant  edge,  a  partial  coating  of  enamel  is 
applied,  so  that  the  thick  body  of  the  tooth  might  be 
worn  away  in  a  more  regularly  oblique  plane  ;  the  dentine 
diminishes  in  density  as  it  recedes  from  the  enamel. 
Finally,  when  the  enamel  is  worn  away  by  constant  use, 
and  the  tooth  from  a  kind  of  cutter  becomes  a  grinder,  a 
third  substance  of  a  different  density  from  the  dentine, 
viz.,  the  ossified  pulp,  adds  to  the  efficiency  of  the  tooth 
in  its  final  capacity."* 

*  Professor  Owen's  Odontography,  p.  283. 


TO    THEIR    FUNCTIONS.  343 

In  extinct  fishes,  adaptations  of  teeth  are  equally  ob- 
vious. The  Rhizodes  had  long  and  powerful  teeth,  fitted 
for  overcoming  the  struggles  of  its  prey.  In  order  the 
better  to  fit  them  for  holding  fast,  "  the  teeth  have  a 
broad  base  divided  into  a  number  of  long  and  slender 
cylindrical  processes,  implanted  like  piles  in  the  coarse 
bony 'substance  of  the  jaw."* 

When  peculiar  modifications  have  enabled  us  to  ascer- 
tain that  a  fossil  bone  belonged  to  fish,  reptile,  bird,  or 
mammal,  we  hesitate  not  to  conclude  that  scales,  feathers, 
hairs,  &c,  must  have  been  respectively  the  external  cover- 
ing of  the  animal.  The  extinct  Glyptodon  of  South 
America  has  left  behind  it  relics  of  a  tessellated,  bony 
cuirass,  very  much  resembling  that  of  living  armadillos. 
The  carcase  of  the  mammoth,  embalmed  in  the  frozen 
soil  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Lena,  has  supplied  our 
museums  with  samples  of  hair  and  wool,  which  must 
have  assisted  to  protect  the  animal  from  the  cold  blasts 
of  the  region  it  frequented.  And,  in  fact,  the  presence 
of  such  covering  affords  us  no  insignificant  evidence  of  the 
probable  nature  of  the  climate  in  that  remote  epoch  and 
region,  when  those  northern  elephants  formed  a  chief  cha- 
racteristic of  a  fauna  which  is  now  so  changed. 

Finally,  the  history  of  our  earth's  crust  cannot  be  pro- 
fitably examined  apart  from  the  different  plants  which 
have  at  various  periods  clothed  its  surface,  or  the  animals 
which  were  successively  brought  into  being.  A  palaeon- 
tologist must  also  be  a  zoologist  and  botanist,  for  we 
cannot  view  living  and  extinct  forms  as  essentially  differ- 
ent embodiments  of  the  Divine  Counsel,  but  rather  as 
manifestations  of  the  same  Supreme  Wisdom  in  various 
consecutive  ages.  Respecting  the  unity  of  plan  in  all 
epochs,  there  seems  to  be  no  difference  of  opinion.     The. 

*  Odontography,  p,  63. 


344  ADAPTATIONS    OF    FOSSIL    ORGANISMS 

universality  of  the  second  principle — adaptations  for  spe- 
cial ends — may  not  be  equally  capable  of  demonstration 
in  extinct  forms.  It  is  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  we 
should  be  able,  in  every  instance,  to  prove  a  relation  be- 
tween means  and  end  in  the  economy  of  every  extinct 
animal  or  plant,  seeing  that  in  general  we  have  only 
fragments  to  deal  with.  Such  expectation  would  be, 
besides,  presumptuous  on  our  part ;  for  while  our  finite 
understandings  can  comprehend  so  much,  they  cannot 
fathom  the  full  depths  of  the  Infinite  Mind.  As  science 
advances,  however,  we  may  expect  that  obscure  points 
will  be  rendered  more  clear,  our  doubts  dispelled,  and 
proofs  of  special  ends  increased.  The  admission  of 
the  first  principle — of  type,  namely — will  greatly  aid 
as  a  means  of  multiplying  examples  illustrative  of  the 
second,  and  simplify  the  study  of  the  organic  beings  of 
every  epoch.  We  shall  close  this  part  of  our  subject 
with  a  quotation  from  Professor  Owen  :* — "  Of  the  nature 
of  the  creative  acts  by  which  the  successive  races  of  ani- 
mals were  called  into  being  we  are  ignorant.  But  this 
we  know,  that  a-s  the  evidence  of  unity  of  plan  testifies  to 
the  oneness  of  the  Creator,  so  the  modifications  of  the 
plan,  for  different  modes  of  existence,  illustrate  the  bene- 
ficence of  the  Designer.  Those  structures,  moreover, 
which  are  at  present  incomprehensible  as  adaptations  to 
a  special  end,  are  made  comprehensible  on  a  higher  prin- 
ciple, and  a  final  purpose  is  gained  in  relation  to  human 
intelligence.  For  in  the  instances  where  the  analogy  of 
humanly-invented  machines  fails  to  explain  the  structure 
of  a  divinely-created  organ,  such  organ  does  not  exist  in 
vain,  if  its  truer  comprehension,,  in  relation  to  the  Divine 

*  Orr's  Circle  of  the  Science?,  Treatise,  No  2 ;  a  work  which  contains  an  admirable, 
summary  of  facts  regarding  typo  and  modifications  in  skeleton  of  vortebrata.  The  low 
price  of  the  work  brings  it  within  reach  of  all. 


PREPARATIONS    TOR    MAN.  345 

idea  or  prime  Exemplar,  lead  rational  beings  to  a  better 
conception  of  their  own  origin  and  Creator." 

Turning  to  a  somewhat  different  branch  of  the  same 
general  subject,  we  find  that  throughout  the  whole  series 
of  geological  ages  there  has  been  an  adaptation,  one  to 
another,  of  the  animals  and  plants  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  the  state  of  the  earth,  its  atmosphere  and  climate,  on 
the  other.  There  has  also  been  a  preparation  going  on 
all  along  for  the  appearance  of  a  higher  being  on  our 
earth's  surface.  The  comfort  of  man  is  dependent  on 
the  condition  of  the  earth— the  place  of  his  temporary 
abode  and  probation,  and  this  is  the  result  of  methodical 
operations  going  on  for  long  successive  ages.'  Man's  life, 
too,  is  inseparably  linked  with  the  plants  and  animals 
which  coexist  with  him,  and  these  are  also  the  issue  of 
long  anticipations  and  preparations.  The  eternal  Logos 
— himself  in  due  time  to  become  flesh — had  contemplated 
all  this  from  the  beginning.     "  The  Lord  possessed  me 

IN  THE  BEGINNING  OF  HlS  WAY,  BEFORE  HlS  WORKS  OF  OLD. 
I  WAS  SET  UP  FROM  EVERLASTING,  FROM  THE  BEGINNING, 
OR  EVER  THE  EARTH  WAS.  WHEN  THERE  WERE  NO 
DEPTHS,  I  WAS  BROUGHT  FORTH  ;  WHEN  THERE  WERE  NO 
FOUNTAINS  ABOUNDING  WITH  WATER.  BEFORE  THE 
MOUNTAINS  WERE  SETTLED  ;  BEFORE  THE  HILLS  WAS  I 
BROUGHT  FORTH  :  WHILE  AS  YET  He  HAD  NOT  MADE  THE 
EARTH,  NOR  THE  FIELDS,  NOR  THE  HIGHEST  PART  OF  THE 
DUST  OF  THE  WORLD.  WlIEN  He  PREPARED  THE  HEAVENS, 
I  WAS  THERE :  WHEN  He  SET  A  COMPASS  UPON  THE  FACE 
OF  THE  DEPTH  :  WHEN  He  ESTABLISHED  THE  CLOUDS 
ABOVE  :  WHEN  He  STRENGTHENED  THE  FOUNTAINS  OF  THE 
DEEP  :  WHEN  HE  GAVE  TO  THE  SEA  HlS  DECREE,  THAT 
THE  WATERS  SHOULD  NOT  PASS  HlS  COMMANDMENT  :  WHEN 
HE  APPOINTED  THE  FOUNDATIONS   OF   THE  EARTH :    THEN 

was  I  by  Him,  as  one  brought  up  with  Him  :  and  I 

15* 


346  preparations  for  man. 

was  daily  hls  delight,  rejoicing  always  refore 
Him;  rejoicing  in  the  habitable  part  of  His  earth; 
and  my  delights  were  with  the  sons  of  men." 

Since  the  remote  period  when  dry  land  first  appeared, 
the  different  substances  entering  into  the  formation  of 
the  crust  of  the  globe  have  been  continually  subjected  to 
a  process  of  decomposition  brought  about  mainly  by  the 
influence  of  heat,  and  moisture,  and  by  the  action  of  the 
atmosphere.  The  same  moisture  which  aided  in  this 
process  has  been  the  means  by  which  the  products  of 
such  decomposition  have  been  carried  off  and  re-arranged 
in  some  neAv  form.  Eivers  and  their  tributaries  have 
served  to  convey  the  debris  of  the  rocks  to  the  ocean, 
there  to  be  deposited  in  the  form  of  a  fine  sediment, 
which  enriched,  perhaps,  by  the  decay  of  marine  organisms, 
and,  after  various  changes,  has  been  finally  upheaved 
above  the  surface  of  the  waters.  The  extent  and  great- 
ness of  those  operations  by  which  the  dry  land  has  been 
fitted  for  the  growth  of  land  vegetation,  and  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  animals,  may  startle  us  by  their  vast- 
ness  ;  but  there  are  abundant  proofs  of  such  great  changes 
— the  records  of  geology  indeed  teem  with  them.  The 
gigantic  scale  on  which  operations,  which  may  be  styled 
the  husbandry  of  nature,  have  been  conducted,  may  well 
surprise  us  ;  but  we  cannot  withhold  our  belief  as  to  such 
processes,  and  the  important  results  which  have  followed 
in  their  train.  Subsoil  ploughing,  mixing  and  re-mixing 
of  soils,  have  been  going  on  in  all  ages.  Man  is  but  the 
unwitting  copyist,  on  a  small  scale,  of  actions  which 
have  been  conducted  on  a  far  greater  scale,  and  ap- 
parently with  his  benefit  in  view.  Those  very  qualities 
which  a  good  soil  ought  to  possess,  have  been  induced  in 
course  of  time  by  various  chemical  and  physical  agencies, 
which  have  been   in   continual   operation.      The  debris 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    MAN.  347 

of  rocks  yielding  calcareous,  silicious,  aluminous,  and 
other  mineral  ingredients,  have  been  brought  together,  and 
mixed  in  a  way  which  the  husbandman  imitates  when 
necessity  demands.  The  furrows  drawn  by  our  plough- 
shares are  but  scratches  on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  com- 
pared with  the  changes  to  which  that  same  soil  has  been 
subjected  in  former  ages,  and  to  which  it  owes  its  varied 
capabilities  of  supporting  plants,  and  yielding  subsistence 
to  the  animal  kingdom. 

•  The  respiration  of  animals,  the  decay  of  certain  organ- 
ized substances,  the  act  of  combustion,  and  emanations 
from  volcanic  foci,  add  to  the  atmosphere  a  gas  which  is 
not  chemically  a  necessary  ingredient  of  that  atmosphere. 
The  gas  referred  to  is  carbonic  acid,  which  at  the  present 
day  forms  about  one  thousandth  part,  by  weight,  of  the 
air  which  surrounds  us.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  sources 
from  which  plants  derive  their  more  solid  ingredients. 
They  are  continually  taking  it  in,  and  storing  it  up  by 
moulding  it  into  shapes  and  qualities,  of  which  we  con- 
tinually avail  ourselves  for  different  necessary  purposes. 
An  excess  of  carbonic  acid  (the  miner  and  well-digger  call 
it  choke-damp)  would  render  our  wTorld  unfit  for  animal 
life.  It  does  not  accumulate  in  our  atmosphere,  because 
every  plant  is  busily,  yet  silently,  absorbing  it,  and  under 
the  stimulating  influence  of  light  and  heat,  selecting, 
so  to  speak,  the  carbon  ;  while  the  remaining  ingre- 
dient, the  oxygen,  is  given  out  for  the  behoof  of  animal 
life. 

The  earliest  traces  of  terrestrial  plants  were  about  co- 
eval with  the  first  appearance  of  vertebrate  life  in  the 
form  of  fishes.  These  ancient  land  plants  were  the  fore- 
runners of  a  vegetation  which  gradually  advanced  in 
richness  to  the  carboniferous  epoch.  The  fragmentary 
samples  preserved  in  the  upper  Ludlow  rocks  appear  to 


348  PREPARATIONS    FOR   MAN. 

have  been  of  the  club-moss  family,  (Lycopodiacea3.)a 
They  ushered  in  the  Flora  of  the  succeeding  or  Devo- 
nian epoch,  richer  than  its  predecessor,  but  of  minor 
importance  when  compared  with  that  garb  and  stature 
which  characterized  the  rich  vegetation  of  the  carboni- 
ferous period.  The  flora  of  the  coal  formation  must  have 
equalled,  perhaps  even  far  excelled,  the  most  luxuriant 
vegetation  of  tropical  lands  at  the  present  clay.  Dense 
forests  of  tall  Sigillarias,  with  their  scar-marked  and 
fluted  stems  ;  furrowed  and  jointed  Calamites  ;  giant  pines, 
allied  to  our  Eutassa  and  Araucaria,  with  an  undergrowth 
of  graceful  ferns,  the  delicacy  of  whose  forms  cannot  be 
excelled  by  any  of  the  fern  beauties  of  our  own  day  ;  these 
constituted  some  of  the  principal  features  of  a  Flora  which 
has  left  us  abundant  and  imperishable  records  of  its 
character,  and  has  enriched  our  country  with  its  valuable 
relics  in  the  shape  of  coal. 

We  have  the  high  authority  of  M.  Brongniart  for  the 
belief  that  carbonic  acid  was  far  more  abundant  in  the 
air  during  certain  epochs  than  it  is  at  present.  The  at- 
mosphere of  the  Pala30zoic  period  was  warm,  moist,  and 
highly  charged  with  the  gas  mentioned.  These  condi- 
tions have  been  shewn  by  Professor  Daubeny  to  be  pecu- 
liarly favourable  to  the  development  of  a  rank  vegetation,f 
such  as  certainly  prevailed  during  the  later  Palaeozoic 
ages.  We  cannot  doubt  that  the  plants  composing  the 
ancient  Flora  required  supplies  of  carbonic  acid  for  their 
full  development.  In  the  vegetables  of  the  carboni- 
ferous epoch  we  can  recognise  the  existence  of  agents 
destined  to  perform  an  important  part  in  the  economy 
of  those  days.  While  able  to  obtain  abundance  of 
necessary  pabulum    to    build   up    their  organs  and  add 

*  Murchison's  Stluria,  p.  238. 

fr  Professor  Daubeny,  in  Proceedings  of  British  Association.     • 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    MAN.  349 

to  their  carbonaceous  ingredients,  they  were,  at  the 
same  time,  preparing  the  way  for  the  advent  of  animals 
by  subtracting  the  excess  of  a  gas  noxious  to  animal 
life* 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  living  beings  must 
have  required  supplies  of  pure  air,  in  whatever  epoch  they 
lived.  Only  a  few  vertebrate  remains,  those  of  reptiles, 
have  been  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  carboniferous  era. 
Animals  of  this  class  are  capable  of  surviving  under  less 
favourable  conditions  of  atmosphere  than  birds  or  mam- 
mals. These  facts  are  adduced  by  geologistsf  as  at  least 
some  confirmation  of  the  theory  they  hold  regarding  the 
atmospheric  features  of  the  coal  epoch.  At  all  events, 
there  is  something  more  than  mere  accidental  coincidence 
in  all  such  relations  of  organized  beings  at  the  time  al- 
luded  to  ;  we  could  scarcely  expect  aerial  breathers  to 
abound  at  a  period  when  the  air  was  charged  with  choke- 
damp. 

But  the  plants  of  the  epoch  succeeding  that  of  the  De- 
vonian, were  undoubtedly  the  sources  whence  supplies  of 
coal  have  been  derived,  and  deposited  in  the  storehouses 
of  the  earth  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  the  coal  of  Great  Britain 
alone,  counting  only  what  comes  to  the  surface,  contains 
carbon  enough  to  add  one-fifth  to  that  now  existing  in 
the  whole  atmosphere.  The  plants  of  the  coal  period 
have  left  us  obvious  proofs  of  their  existence  in  the  shale 
of  our  coal  mines  ;  and  in  the  coal  itself,  we  can  find 
some  data  from  which  to  estimate  the  vast  amount  of 
carbonic  acid  which  (from  whatever  source  derived)  was 
abstracted  by  the  plants  of  that  remarkable  epoch,  and 
then  stored  up  in  a  convenient  form  for  our  use.  In  our 
coal  fields,  we  have  a  rich  deposit  of  material  available 

*  Phillip's  Manual  of  Geology  p.  613;  1S55.  t  Ibid. 


350  PREPARATIONS    FOR    MAN. 

for  various  purposes,  and  among  others,  as  a  generator  of 
mechanical  force — in  fact,  a  latent  power — which,  in  its 
proper  application  with  its  usually  associated  ironstone 
and  limestone,  has  contributed  largely  to  give  to  the  pre- 
sent age  "  its  form  and  pressure." 

All  this  invaluable  treasure — in  the  form  of  deeply- 
seated  coal  basins — must,  however,  have  'remained  buried 
for  ever  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  beyond  our  reach, 
had  it  retained  its  primary  geological  conditions  and  re- 
lations. But,  by  various  and  gigantic  appliances  of  sub- 
terranean force,  the  original  deposits  of  coal  have  been 
broken  up,  changed  in  position,  and  brought  nearer  the 
surface,  and  thus  placed  more  within  the  reach  of  man. 
Upheavings  have  followed  the  internal  throes  of  mother 
earth  ;  elevating  forces  have  brought  about  dislocations 
of  strata  ;  and  if  the  deposits  of  subterranean  fuel  have 
not  in  every  case  been  brought  to  the  very  surface,  those 
still  remaining  in  a  buried  condition  have  had  their  ori- 
ginal relations  so  altered  that  they  can  be  subjected  to 
the  explorations  of  the  adventurous  miner  with  greater 
prospect  of  success. 

The  regularity  in  the  succession  of  different  strata,  and 
the  peculiarity  of  the  organic  remains  by  which  these  are 
characterized  and  become  capable  of  recognition,  afford 
man  important  assistance  in  his  search  after  the  coal  which 
lies  under  his  feet.  He  has  some  more  trustworthy  guide 
than  the  divining  rod,  to  indicate  the  locality  in  which 
he  may  expect  the  subterranean  treasures,  as  well  as  cal- 
culate their  probable  extent.  A  knowledge  of  geology 
affords  invaluable  aid  in  the  discovery  of  coal  where  it 
has  never  previously  been  wrought,  and  we  may  trust  to 
the  same  sure  guide  in  forbidding  the  waste  of  time  and 
capital  in  searching  for  it  where  it  cannot  possibly  be 
found.     But  when  infallible  marks  have  brought  us  to 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    MAN.  351 

the  spot  where  the  coal  lies,  the  same  principles  aid  us 
in  getting  at  it,  or  (as  the  miners  say)  "  winning  it." 
Geology  affords  a  sure  guide  in  the  development  of  those 
commercial  and  industrial  resources  which  the  different 
regions  of  the  earth  possess. 

The  carboniferous  epoch,  constituting  the  "  reign  of  the 
Acrogens,"  whose  characteristic  features  have  been  briefly 
alluded  to,  was  followed  by  times  when  Pines  and  Cycases 
prevailed — the  "  reign  of  the  Grymnosperrns."  The  pines 
had  the  predominance  in  the  dawn  of  that  kingdom ;  they 
were  finally  almost  entirely  supplanted  by  the  Cycadeas — 
a  family  probably  familiar  to  our  readers  in  one  of  their 
aspects,  under  a  form  which  maybe  compared  to  a  gigan- 
tic fir-cone,  with  a  tuft  of  wiry,  fern-like  leaves  growing 
from  the  top. 

But  we  pass  on  to  a  new  epoch  of  terrestrial  vegetation. 
With  the  Chalk  period  there  began  a  fresh  era,  the  "  king- 
dom of  the  Angiosperms."  In  its  dawn  there  was  a  kind 
of  transition  from  the  previous  dynasty  to  the  new  one 
which  we  are  now  to  consider,  and  which  reached  the  zen- 
ith of  its  strength  in  our  own  time.  Through  the  Eocene, 
Miocene,  and  Pliocene  epochs,  the  Angiosperms  increased 
in  numbers,  and  some  families  which  characterize  our  own 
days  became  more  and  more  numerous. 

We  have,  in  a  previous  part  of  this  work,  endeavoured 
to  shew  that  those  species  which  delight  us  by  their  forms 
and  colours  are  peculiarly  characteristic  of  existing 
Floras.  And  if  we  seek  for  more  substantial  properties, 
we  still  miss,  in  the  species  of  the  primeval  epochs,  those 
distinguished  for  their  utility  at  the  present  day.  Doubt- 
less the  earth  formerly  yielded  Ferns,  Firs,  Cycases,  and 
Palms,  and  plants  of  the  same  families  to  supply  useful 
products.  The  New  Zealunder  and  Tasmanian  derive 
some  sustenance  from  the  subterranean  stems  of  a  fern  ; 


352  PREPARATIONS    FOR    MAN. 

we  ourselves  owe  nmcli  to  the  firs  of  our  own  forests  ;  and 
the  natives  of  Northern  Europe  sometimes  use  the  ground 
bark  of  a  pine  (as  well  as  of  other  trees)  to  eke  out  their 
scanty  meal ;  some  of  the  human  family  can,  by  a 
troublesome  process,  extract  nourishing  matter  from  the 
stems  or  seeds  of  a  Cycas  ;  and  certain  Palms  do  furnish 
valuable  products — constituting,  in  fact,  a  vegetable  ba- 
zaar, yielding  food  and  clothing,  and  luxuries  besides  ; 
but  how  small  a  part,  after  all,  of  the  millions  of  men  in 
our  world  do  the  foresaid  plants  support,  and  that  part  is 
the  least  civilized  and  intellectual  ! 

While  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  researches  of 
the  Paleontologist  have  not  yet  exhausted  our  informa- 
tion as  to  the  plants  which  clothed  the  earth  before  man 
was  called  into  being,  wo  cannot  but  remark  the  almost 
total  absence  of  families  whose  products  minister  to  his 
wants  and  comfort.  We  find  few  traces  in  the  tertiary 
epoch,  which  immediately  preceded  man's,  of  plants  be- 
longing to  families  from  which  he  derives  his  necessary 
food.  In  that  tertiary  age  there  were,  so  far  as  geology 
reveals  to  us,  few  or  no  spices  yielding  "  cinnamon,  and 
odours,  and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  fine  flour 
and  wheat.  There  are  few  evident  indications  of  any 
vegetables  from  which  man  derives  food  and  valuable 
fibre,  and,  in  a  word,  of  species  which  support  and  clothe 
by  far  the  largest  proportion  of  the  human  race.  Scarcely 
any  Grammes  (grasses  appear  in  the  lists  of  extinct 
forms  ;  may  we  not  conclude  that  the  principal  cereal 
plants  are  characteristic  of  man's  epoch,  that  barley,  oats, 
rye,  wheat,  millet,  Indian  corn,  and  rice,  were  special  pro- 
visions in  order  to  man's  appearance  ?  From  the  lists 
of  Pliocene  vegetation  we  miss  the  Labiate  plants,  which 
so  charm  us  by  the  beauty  of  their  flowers,  and  which 
yield  essential  oils  to  regale  us  by  their  perfumes.     Of 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    MAN.  353 

Rosacea  there  are  few  traces,  and  in  the  list  of  finally- 
added  species,  we  must  include  the  roses  which  yield  us 
their  precious  "  Attar,"  and  the  delicious  fruits  which 
characterize  our  more  temperate  climes. 

There  were  thus  long  preparations  made  both  in  the 
crust  of  the  earth  and  in  its  living  organisms  for  the  sup- 
port of  man,  who  appears  when  all  is  prepared  for  him. 
"  The  earth  hath  He  given  to  the  children  of  men." 
"as  for  the  earth,  out  of  it  cometh  bread,  and 
under  it  is  turned  up,  as  it  were,  fire." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

INORGANIC  OBJECTS  ON  THE  EARTH'S  SURFACE. 
SECT.  I. CRYSTALLINE   FORMS   AND   CHEMICAL   PROPORTIONS. 

In  surveying,  in  a  superficial  manner,  the  mineral 
substances  which  compose  the  crust  of  the  earth,  the 
impression  might  be  left  that  they  are  irregular  through- 
out, and  that  they  can  exhibit  no  marks  of  intelligence. 
Paley,  in  the  opening  of  his  beautiful  work,  refers  to  a 
stone,  as,  in  this  respect,  in  striking  contrast  to  a  watch. 
The  meaning  of  Paley  is  obvious  and  correct,  but  science 
will  not  admit,  in  the  present  day,  that  there  are  no  traces 
of  order  and  design  in  the  stone.  Isaac  Barrow,  two  cen- 
turies ago,  spoke,  in  one  of  his  Sermons,  of  stones,  metals, 
minerals,  as  "  probably  furnishing  obvious  proofs  of  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  provided  our  senses  were  able  to  dis- 
cover their  constitution  and  texture."  What  the  senses 
cannot  do  has  been  done  by  the  penetrating  intellect  of 
man,  following  the  principles  of  inductive  science.  In 
dead  minerals  we  observe — under  a  simpler,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  more  unbending  aspect — the  commencement 
of  those  wondrous  forms  which,  under  wider  and  more 
accommodating  modifications,  play  so  important  a  part  in 
the  economy  of  living  beings. 

No  man  can  look  on  the  columnar  structure  of  Staffa 
or  the  Giant's  Causeway  without  having  a  sort  of  vague 


AND    CHEMICAL    PROPORTIONS.  355 

notion,  that  here  there  is  method  and  intelligence  too. 
We  feel  as  if  we  have  traces  of  these  in  this  architecture 
of  nature,  just  as  we  have  them  in  those  objects  of  rnan's 
construction  which  they  so  much  resemble — the  columns 
of  a  temple,  the  pipes  of  an  organ,  or  the  oaken  ribs  of  a 
ship.  We  are  not  sure  that  the  impression  is  altogether 
a  mistaken  one.  There  is  here,  it  is  true,  no  special 
adaptation  of  parts  to  produce  a  useful  end  :  this  indi- 
cation of  design  is  altogether  wanting  ;  but  there  is 
general  law  operating  here  as  in  every  other  part  of 
inorganic  nature,  producing  an  orderly  result,  such  as  is 
characteristic  of  intelligence.  How  often,  too,  may  we 
see  the  coal  on  our  fires  tending  towards  a  definite  ma- 
thematical shape,  and,  on  breaking  up  the  pieces  we  find 
the  fragments  not  less  regular  !  When  we  open  up  the 
stones  of  the  ground,  we  may  discover,  in  the  component 
parts  of  most  of  them,  a  regular  structure,  and  the  im- 
pression is  left  on  the  mind  that  they  are  crystalline 
throughout.  In  short,  minerals  are  found  everywhere 
in  nature  in  very  beautiful  symmetrical  forms,  and  most 
minerals  assume  regular  forms  in  circumstances  which 
admit  of  this  operation  being  formed — that  is,  when 
there  is  a  slow  and  gradual  change  of  fluid  into  solid,  and 
the  arrangement  of  the  particles  is  undisturbed  by  motion. 
It  was  a  happy  misfortune  which  befell  Abbd  Haiiy, 
when  a  fine  group  of  calcareous  spar  which  he  was  ex- 
amining fell  from  his  hands  and  was  shivered  into  frag- 
ments.  The  original  crystals  were  of  a  prismatic  shape, 
but  as  he  gathered  up  the  broken  pieces  of  one  of  the 
prisms  in  sadness,  he  observed  that,  while  not  less  regu- 
lar in  shape  than  the  original  crystal,  they  were  all 
rhomboidal ;  and  the  thought  flashed  on  him — bright  as 
the  lustre  from  the  mineral — that  all  the  varied  crystal- 
line forms  in  nature  micdit  be  derived,  according  to  fixed 


356 


CRYSTALLINE    FORMS 


laws,  from  a  few  primitive  forms.  He  felt  as  if  a  new 
world  had  opened  upon  him,  and  he  exclaimed,  "  All  is 
found  I"  In  prosecuting  his  investigations,  he  did  not 
scruple  to  break  his  whole  collection  of  crystals  to  pieces, 
and  he  succeeded  in  discovering  certain  laws,  the  deter- 
mination of  which  has  turned  out  to  be  a  more  precious 
acquisition  to  human  science  than  all  the  crystals  in  all 
the  museums  of  the  world. 

The  regular  forms  assumed  by  minerals  has  now  been 
carefully  examined,  and  the  science  of  Crystallography  is 
the  result.  The  figures  of  crystals  found  in  nature  and 
formed  artificially  are  very  diversified,  but  any  given  sub- 
stance is  limited  in  the  number  of  crystalline  forms  which 
it  takes  :  thus,  fluor  spar  crystallizes  in  cubes,  but  never 
in  six-sided  pyramids.  The  forms  are  all  in  conformity 
with  a  beautiful  law  of  symmetry.  In  every  one  of  them 
there  will  be  found  a  line  passing  through  the  centre  of 
the  crystal,  round  which  all  different  parts  of  the  crystal 
are  symmetrically  grouped  ;  this  is  called  the  crystalline 
axis.  The  numerous  crystalline  forms  which  exist  in 
nature  can  all  be  reduced,  on  rigidly  scientific  principles, 

to  a  few  primitive  forms.  There 
are  Six  Primitive  Forms,  ac- 
cording to  Professor  Weiss  of 
Berlin,  whose  views  seem  to  be 
generally  adopted.* 

First,  The  Octohcdral  System. 
It  has  three  equal  axes  at  right 
angles  to  each  other.  (See 
Fig.  69.)  Owing  to  the  perfect 
symmetry  by  which  it  is  cha- 
racterized, it  has  been  called  the  regular  system  of  crystal  ■ 
lization. 


*  The  views  of  Professor  Miller  of  Cambridge  are  substantially  the  same. 


AND    CHEMICAL    PROPORTIONS. 


357 


Fig.  70. 


Second,  The  Square  Prismatic  System.  In  this,  as 
in  the  former,  there  are  three  axes, 
which  intersect  each  other  at  right 
angles  ;  but  in  this  system  only  two 
of  the  three  are  equal.  (See  Fig.  70.) 
Third,  The  Bight  Prismatic  Sys- 
tem. Here,  as  in  the 
two  preceding,  there  are 
two  rectangular  axes, 
but  no  two  of  the  axes 
are  equal.  (See  Fig. 
71.) 

In  these  three  sys- 
tems the  axes  of  the  crystals  are  all  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.  In  those  which 
follow,  there  is  the  same  symmetry  round 
the  axes,  but  the  axes  are  not  rectan- 
gular. 

Fourth,  The  Bhombohedral  System.  Here,  as  in  the 
first  group,  the  axes  are  equal.  They  cross  each  other 
at  equal  angles,  but  not  at  right  angles. 
(See  Fig.  72.)  The  most  simple  form  is 
the  rhombohedron, 
which  is  bounded  by 
six  equal  and  similar 
rhombic  faces. 
The  Oblique  Prismatic 
In  this  system,  two  of 
the  axes  intersect  each  other  ob- 
liquely, while  the  third  is  perpen- 
dicular to  both.  The  axes  are 
unequal  in  length.    (See  Fig.  73.) 

Sixth,  The  Double  Oblique  System.      The  three  axes 
intersect  each  other  obliquely,  and  are  unequal.     Much 


Fig.  71. 


Fig.  72. 
Fifth, 

System. 


Fig.  73. 


358 


CRYSTALLINE    FORMS 


Fig.  74. 


of  the  symmetry  of  form  observable  in  the  others  disap- 
pears in  this  system.  Still,  the  faces  which  are  diagonally 
opposed  are  parallel  to  each  other.  (See 
Fig.  74.) 

Out  of  these  primary  forms,  other  and 
derivatory  ones  are  fashioned,  according 
to  principles  which  are  of  a  mathema- 
tical character.     Thus,  the  forms  which 
the  octohedral  system  takes  are  seven, 
being  limited  to  the  number  of  ways  in 
which  a  plane   can  intersect   the   three 
axes.     The  most  prevalent  are  the  octohedrbn,  the  cube, 
and  the  rhombie  dodecahedron,  which  are  frequently  met 
with  in  nature. 

Simple  forms  of  different  systems  are  never  combined,* 
but  the  mineral  which  assumes  one  form  of  a  sj^stem 
may,  and  often  does,  take  other  forms  of  the  same  system. 
Thus  the  salt  alum  may  be  obtained  in  the  form  both  of 
the  octohedron  and  the  cube.  During  the  process  of 
crystallization  it  will  often  happen  that  the  faces  of  seve- 
ral of  these  forms  are  simultaneously  developed,  furnishing 
crystals  of  the  greatest  diversity  of  appearance.  Thus, 
in  the  crystallizatian  of  alum,  the  faces  both  of  the  cube 
and  the  octohedron  may  be  produced,  and  the  feces  of  the 
cube  will  be  seen  truncating  the  angles  of  the  octohedron. 
It  is  an  instructive  illustration  of  the  means  by  which 
infinite  variety  is  produced  in  nature,  in  accordance  with 
a  rigid  unity.  The  transition  from  the  more  rigid  crys- 
tal to  the  freer  forms  of  organic  nature,  may  be  seen  in 
the  beautifully-ramified  figures  made  by  the  frost  on  our 
flag-stones  and  windows,  and  also  in  the  branchings  of 
coralline  structures. 


*  It  should  be  stated,  however,  that  the  mineral  may  crystallize  in  a  different  system 
when  in  an  allolropic  condition. 


AND   CHEMICAL    PROPORTIONS.  359 

An  interesting  connexion  had  been  traced,  by  Mitscher- 
fichof  Berlin;  between  the  crystalline  form  and  the  com- 
position of  bodies.  Substances  which  take  the  same 
crystalline  form  may  be  substituted  for  each  other  in 
combination,  without  affecting  the  external  character  of 
the  compound.  Thus,  sulphate  of  potassa  and  peroxide 
of  iron  may  be  made  to  take  the  form  and  aspect  of  alum 
without  the  presence  of  any  aluminous  earth.  Substances 
which  assume  the  same  crystalline  form  are  called  Iso- 
morphous.  Isomorphous  bodies  have  been  distributed 
into  distinct  groups  ; — thus,  oxygen,  sulphur,  chlorine, 
belong  to  one  group  ;  potassium,  sodium,  lithium,  cal- 
cium, zinc,  lead,  silver,  are  associated  in  another  group  ; 
while  arsenic,  antimony,  phosphorus,  and  tellurium,  form 
a  third  group.  Bodies  belonging  to  the  same  group  may 
be  substituted  for  each  other  in  the  composition  of  salts, 
or  of  minerals,  without  the  external  qualities  of  the  bodies 
being  affected.  Isomorphous  bodies  have  often  very 
close  points  of  resemblance  in  physical  properties  as  well 
as  in  form.  Thus,  arsenic  and  phosphorus  have  nearly 
the  same  odour  ;  they  both  form  gaseous  compounds  with 
hydrogen  ;  they  differ  from  nearly  all  other  bodies  in 
their  mode  of  combining  with  oxygen,  and  yet  agree  with 
one  another,  and  their  salts  are  disposed  to  combine  with 
the  same  water  of  crystallization.  Isomorphous  sub- 
stances, owing,  doubtless,  to  the  various  points  of  analogy 
which  have  thus  been  traced,  crystallize  together  with 
great  readiness,  and  are  separated  from  each  other  with 
difficulty.0  These  researches  are  not  yet  carried  so  far 
as  to  entitle  us  to  lay  much  weight  on  them  in  our  pre- 
sent argument,  but,  even  at  this  stage,  they  furnish 
glimpses  of  depths  which  have  not  yet  been  explored. 
That  which  has  only  been  imperfectly  ascertained,  points. 

*  Tomer's  Chemistry,  edited  by  Liebig  and  Gregory. 


360  CRYSTALLINE    FORMS 

equally  with  that  which  has  been  more  fully  determined, 
to  designed  connexions  and  parallelisms  running  through 
the  whole  of  nature. 

When  we  go  still  farther  down  towards  the  very  ele- 
mentary constitution  of  bodies,  we  find  indications  of 
what  must  be  an  order  in  respect  either  of  form  or 
number.  From  a  very  early  data  there  was  a  vague 
impression  that  there  must  be  something  definite  in  the 
way  in  which  bodies  chemically  unite.  But  the  law  was 
not  scientifically  evolved  till  within  the  last  age,  when 
Dalton  propounded  his  atomic  theory.  Proceeding  on 
the  view  commonly  adopted  in  modern  times,  that  mat- 
ter is  composed  of  atoms,  he  supposes  that  all  atoms  are 
of  the  same  form,  that  the  atom  of  each  element  has  a 
specific  weight,  and  that  when  bodies  combine,  it  must 
either  be  by  one  atom  of  one  body  with  one  atom  of  an- 
other, or  by  one  atom  of  the  one  element  with  two  atoms, 
three  atoms,  or  four  atoms  of  the  other  element.  It  was 
thus  that  he  gave  expression  to  the  law  discovered  by 
him,  and  accounted  for  the  relation  between  the  weights 
of  the  combining  proportions  of  bodies.  There  has  been 
a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  atomic  theory  which 
Dalton  employed  to  explain  the  laws  of  chemical  combi- 
nation, but  there  has  been  none  as  to  the  laws  themselves, 
In  order  to  chemical  combinations  between  bodies,  we 
must  have  a  certain  proportional  weight  of  the  one  and  a 
certain  proportional  weight  of  the  other,  and  if  an  excess 
of  either  ingredient  of  the  compound  be  present,  it  re- 
mains uncombined,  and  with  its  properties  unchanged. 
Thus,  in  order  to  form  water,  it  is  necessary  to  have  one 
part  by  weight  of  hydrogen  and  eight  parts  of  oxygen  ; 
and  if  there  be  a  different  proportion,  say  one  part  of 
hydrogen  and  eleven  parts  of  oxygen,  then  there  will  only 
be  eight  of  the  oxygen  absorbed  in  joining  one  of  the 


AND    CHEMICAL   PROPORTIONS.  361 

hydrogen  to  make  water,  and  three  will  remain  free  and 
unchanged. 

This,  then,  is  the  first  part  of  the  law  of  chemical 
equivalents  or  definite  proportions  ; — bodies  combine  in 
certain  numerical  proportions  by  weight,  and  in  no  others. 
As  the  result  of  the  united  labours  of  Thomson,  Berze- 
lius,  and  a  host  of  other  chemists,  the  equivalent  number 
of  the  elementary  bodies  (about  sixty  in  number)  has 
been  approximately  determined.  To  give  a  few  ex- 
amples : — 

Hydrogen,  1.  Chlorine,  35-4. 

Oxygen,  8.  Potassium,  39-2. 

Carbon,  6.  Copper,  3P8. 

Nitrogen,  14.  Lead,  103-8. 

Sulphur,  16.  Quicksilver,  100. 

It  is  another  part  of  the  same  law,  following  from  that 
which  has  been  explained,  that  in  entering  into  other 
chemical  compositions,  the  constituents  of  any  chemical 
compound  replace  each  other  exactly  in  the  proportion  in 
which  they  combine.  Thus  it  is  found  that  one  part  of 
hydrogen  combines  with  eight  of  oxygen  to  form  water, 
with  six  of  carbon  to  form  carburetted  hydrogen,  and  with 
35*4  of  chlorine  to  ■  form  hydrochloric  acid.  But  these 
numbers  express  not  only  the  proportions  in  which  the 
last-named  bodies  unite  with  hydrogen,  but  the  propor- 
tions in  which  they  combine  with  each  other.  It  follows 
that  if  we  know  the  proportion  in  which  one  body  com- 
bines with  a  number  of  others,  we  know  also  the  propor- 
tions in  which  all  these  bodies  combine  with  each  other, 
and  replace  each  other  in  new  compositions.* 

In  order  fully  to  understand  this  truth,  which  has  re- 
duced the  science  of  chemistry  to  the  most  rigid  law,  it 
is  further  to  be  taken  into  account,  that  when  two  bodies 

*  See  Liebig's  Letters  on  Chemistry. 


362  CRYSTALLINE   FORMS 

combine  with  each  other  in  two  or  more  proportions,  the 
higher  proportions  bear  a  very  simple  ratio  to  the  lower. 
Thus  there  will  unite  with  14  parts  of  nitrogen  the  follow- 
ing parts  of  oxygen,  but  no  intermediate  numbers  : — 


Nitrogen. 

Oxygen. 

14 

8 

Protoxide  of  nitrogen. 

14 

16 

Deutoside  of  nitrogen, 

14 

24 

Hyponitrous  acid. 

14 

32 

Nitrous  acid. 

14 

40 

Nitric  acid. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  a  similar  multiple  relation, 
capable  of  being  numerically  expressed,  exists  between 
the  proportions  higher  and  lower  in  which  all  bodies  com- 
bine with  each  other. 

In  consequence  of  the  discovery  of  these  great  truths, 
which  constitute  the  fundamental  laws  of  chemistry,  it 
has  been  found  possible  to  employ  symbolical  language 
in  that  science,  so  as  to  enable  chemists  to  express  in  the 
simplest  manner  the  constitution  of  every  compound  body 
and  indicate  the  way  in  which  its  elements  maybe  replaced. 
Each  elementary  substance  is  designated  by  the  first 
letter  of  its  name,  compounds  by  the  combination  of  the 
initial  letters  of  their  elements,  and  the  number  of  simple 
equivalents  of  each  element  by  their  attached  numbers. 
The  memory  which  would  otherwise  be  burdened  by  the 
number  of  particulars,  (described  by  Plato  as  infinite,) 
is  able  by  their  being  thus  bound  into  bundles,  to  use  a 
phrase  of  Locke's,  and  happily  labelled,  to  bear  its  know- 
ledge about  with  it,  and  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  com- 
position of  bodies  becomes  comprehensible  by  the  human 
intellect.  But  chemists  in  setting  forth  their  own  dis- 
coveries, and  in  giving  due  praise  to  one  another,  are 
apt  to  forget  that  they  have  been  able  to  accomplish  their 
work  through  the  simplicity  and  numerical  regularity  of 


AND   CHEMICAL   PEOPORTIONS.  363 

the  laws  operating  in  nature.  Human  science  is  possible 
because  there  has  been  the  strictest  attention  paid  to  or- 
der in  the  objects  which  it  could  arrange  and  classify. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  being  mentioned  that  the  volumes 
of  compound  gases  always  stand  in  a  very  simple  ratio  to 
the  volumes  of  the  elements  thus  : — 

50  oxygen  -f-  100  nitrogen  yield  100  protoxide  of  nitrogen. 
100  oxygen  -f-  100  nitrogen     "      200  binoxide  of  nitrogen. 

50  oxygen  -f-  100  hydrogen  "      100  water. 
100  nitrogen  -f-  300  hydrogen  "      200  ammonia. 

Some  curious  discoveries  seem  to  have  been  made  in  re- 
gard to  the  connexion  between  chemical  equivalents,  and 
volumes  ;  but  they  are  not  so  perfected  as  to  allow  of  their 
introduction  in  such  a  treatise  as  this. 

Attempts  have  been  made  in  the  same  science  to  form 
bodies  into  groups  or  congeners.  M.  Dumas,  in  particu- 
lar, has  detected  a  number  of  triads,  or  series  of  three 
bodies,  which  have  analogous  properties,  and  showing  a 
singular  numerical  progression  in  their  equivalent  weights; 
the  equivalents  of  two  of  these  added  together,  and  divided 
by  two,  giving  approximately  the  equivalent  of  the  third 
thus  : — 

Chlorine,    35  J  Potassium,  40 

Bromine,  >-    80  Sodium,  \-   24 


Iodine,      125  )  Lithium,         1 

Calcium,     20  )  Sulphur,      16 

Strontium,        V    44  Silenium,  V   40 


Barium,      69  )  Tellurium,  64 

"  Regarding,"  says  Faraday,  "  chlorine,  bromine,  and 
iodine,  as  one  triad,  it  will  be  seen  that  between  the  first 
and  the  last  there  is  recognisable  a  well-marked  progres- 
sion of  qualities.     Thus  chlorine  is  a  gas,  under  ordin- 


364  CRYSTALLINE    FORMS 

ary  temperatures  and  pressures  ;  bromine,  a  fluid  ;  and 
iodine,  a  solid  ;  in  this  manner  displaying  a  progression 
in  the  difference  of  cohesive  force.  Again,  chlorine  is 
yellow  ;  bromine,  red  ;  iodine,  black,  or,  in  vapour,  a  red- 
dish violet."* 

In  the  higher  chemistry  of  organized  bodies  we  meet 
with  another  kind  of  organic  groups  ;  "  these  are  named 
Organic  Types,  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  the  atoms 
are  grouped  together  in  a  certain  mode,  on  which  the 
properties  or  the  compound  so  entirely  depend,  that  pro- 
vided this  grouping  or  arrangement  be  retained,  great 
changes  may  be  made  in  regard  to  individual  elements, 
without  changing  the  general  character  of  the  compound. 
This  leads  us  to  the  very  remarkable  and  important  law 
of  substitution,  which  has  become  so  fertile  in  discoveries 
of  late  years."f  In  organic  chemistry  every  compound 
represents  a  type,  and  all  chemical  changes  are  substitu- 
tions, but  only  like  for  like  can  be  substituted,  one  metal 
for  another,  or  chlorine  for  iodine,  &c. 

In  organic  chemistry,  the  arrangement  of  the  atoms 
determines  the  character  of  the  type.  A  certain  arrange- 
ment gives  acids,  another  ethers,  and  so  on.  As  an  ex- 
ample of  such  an  organic  type,  Dr.  Gregory  gives  the 
case  of  Naphthaline  C20  H3,  the  character  of  which  is  that 
it  is  volatile  and  combustible.  Now  the  hydrogen  in  this 
compound  may  be  replaced,  atom  by  atom,  by  chlorine, 
yielding  a  compound  C2l)  Cla,  which  still  retains  the  gen- 
eral characters  of  the  type. 

But  there  is  another  form  of  substitution  giving  rise  to  > 
homologous  series,  in  which  hydrogen  is  replaced  by  cer- 
tain compound  radicals  which  are  themselves  homologous 
and  give  origin,  when  substituted  for  hydrogen,  to  other 

*  Faraday's  Lectures  on  Non-Metallic  Elements,  pp.  158, 159. 
t  Elementary  Treatise  of  Chemistry,  p.  265. 


AND  CHEMICAL  PROPOKTIONS.  365 

homologous  series.     The  following  tabular  view  will  ren- 
der this  plain  : — 


Hydrogen  H. 

Water  HO. 

'  Methyle,  C2  H3 

r 

Oxide  of  Methyle 

C2  H3  0 

Ethyle,    C4  H5 

£ 

do.      Ethyle, 

C4  H5  0 

It 

Propyle,  C6  H7 

si 

■j 

do.      Perpyle, 

C6  H-  0 

w 

Butyle,    C8  H9 

m 

do.      Butyle, 

C8  H9  0 

^  Amyle,    Ci0Hu 

I 

do.      Amyle, 

CioHnO 

Taking  methyle,  the  first  in  the  series,  we  can  see  the 
simple  relation  which  exists  between  it  and  all  the  mem- . 
bers  of  the  series.  The  second,  ethyle,  is  derived  from 
the  first  by  adding  two  atoms  of  carbon,  and  two  of  hy- 
drogen. The  third  bears  a  like  relation  to  the  second,  and 
so  on  throughout.  The  carbon  equivalents  form  an  even 
number,  those  of  the  hydrogen  are  odd  numbers.  It  is  far- 
ther worthy  of  notice,  that  the  volatility  of  each  is  inversely 
as  the  amount  of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  and,  consequently, 
the  density  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  amount  of  car- 
bon and  hydrogen.  The  density  and  boiling  point  in- 
crease from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  scale,  in  the 
order  in  which  they  stand  in  the  above  table.  Methyle 
is  a  gas  like  hydrogen,  requiring  twenty  atmospheres  to 
reduce  it  to  a  fluid  state,  amyle  is  an  oily  fluid  boiling 
at  311°  Fahr. 

The  radicles  in  the  first  part  of  the  table  are  all  homo- 
logous with,  and  analogous  to,  hydrogen.  And  as  hydro- 
gen, H,  was  the  starting  point  in  the  series  of  radicles, 
(Ethyles,)  so  water  HO  is  the  starting-point  of  a  new  ho- 
mologous series  formed  from  these  radicles,  forming 
ethers,  as  represented  in  the  second  series  in  the  table. 
The  first  of  these,  oxide  of  methyle,  Ca  Ha  0,  is  a  gas  at 
ordinary  temperatures,  the  others  are  liquids  less  volatile 
than  ether,  and  so  on. 

From  this  second  series  a  third  homologous  series  is 


366  CRYSTALLINE    FORMS 

formed,  viz.,  the  alcohols,  by  the  addition  of  two  equiva- 
lents of  water  ;  one  example  may  suffice  :  C2  H,  0,  HO 
give  methylic  alcohol,  &c.  It  may  be  observed  that  these 
series,  ethers  and  alcohols,  are  also  analogous  as  well 
as  homologous,  that  is,  their  general  characters  are  the 
same. 

"  We  can  now  see,"  says  Dr.  Gregory,  "  that  the  pro- 
gress of  science  must  inevitably  reduce  the  whole  of  or- 
ganic chemistry,  in  which  we  must  remember  only  the 
same  three  or  four  elements  are  perpetually  met  with, 
to  a  collection  of  homologous  series,  in  which  every  com- 
pound will  have  its  natural  place,  indicative  at  once  of 
its  origin,  its  immediate  derivation,  and  its  properties 
both  physical  and  chemical."* 

It  is  not  necessary  to  maintain  that  all  the  laws  re- 
ferred to  in  this  section,  or  in  any  of  the  sections,  are 
simple  and  original ;  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should 
regard  any  one  of  them  as  being  so.  We  are  at  liberty 
to  suppose  that  the  very  law  of  gravitation  itself  is  de- 
rived from  a  simpler  law,  as  is  maintained  by  some  in 
our  day ;  still  the  order  in  the  derivative  law  would  be  a 
proof  of  order  in  the  original  law  itself,  and  in  the  ar- 
rangements made  in  order  to  its  operations  ;  thus,  upon 
the  discovery  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  the  laws  of  Kep- 
ler were  accounted  for,  but  by  a  law  orderly  in  itself,  and 
having  beautiful  arrangements  made  in  order  to  its  bene- 
ficent action.  Most  of  the  forms  of  crystals  found  in 
nature  are  derivative,  but  when  we  go  back  to  the  origi- 
nal forms,  we  find  them,  like  the  derivative,  distinguished 
by  the  most  methodical  symmetry.  On  the  same  prin- 
ciple we  may  argue  that  should  the  laws  at  present 
acknowledged  in  science  be  resolved  into  simpler  ones, 
it  would  still  be  found  that  the  original  laws,  with  the 

*  Gregory's  Elementary  Treatise  on  Chemistry,  pp.  264, 269,  272. 


AND    CHEMICAL   PROPORTIONS.  367 

adjustments  made  in  order  to  their  operation,  are  of  a 
regular  and  mutually  adaptive  character.  The  forms  of 
crystals,  and  the  relations  of  chemical  equivalents,  if  not 
simple,  must,  just  because  they  are  regular,  proceed  from 
forms  or  from  forces,  one  or  both,  which  are  also  charac- 
terized by  regularity.  From  disorder  there  can  flow  onty 
confusion  ;  order  can  proceed  only  from  order. 

SECT.  II. ADAPTATIONS    OP   INORGANIC    OBJECTS   TO    ANIMALS 

AND   PLANTS. 

Many  of  the  adjustments  which  might  be  adduced 
under  this  head  are  so  obvious  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
dilate  on  them  ;  indeed,  they  can  scarcely  be  made  more 
impressive  by  any  scientific  treatment.  While  the  ele- 
ments of  nature  obey  their  own  methodical  laws,  they  are 
so  arranged  as  to  form  living  organisms,  and  supply 
them  with  the  needful  sustenance.  Each  agent  has  its 
rule  of  action,  but  is  made  to  co-operate  with  every  other. 
Law  is  suited  to  law,  property  fits  into  property,  colloca- 
tion is  adapted  to  collocation,  and  the  result  is  harmony 
and  beneficence.  The  whole  is  dependent  on  every  one 
of  its  parts,  and  the  parts  all  lend  their  aid  to  the  pro- 
duction of  the  whole.  A  break  in  a  single  thread  of  the 
complicated  network  would  occasion  the  failure  of  the 
whole  design. 

There  are  upwards  of  sixty  substances,  which,  in  our 
present  state  of  knowledge,  we  must  regard  as  uncom- 
pounded.  Each  of  these  has  its  own  properties,  and  the 
system  is  sustained  by  the  joint  action  of  all.  Very  pos- 
sibly the  absence  of  any  one  of  the  elements,  certainly 
the  absence  of  any  one  of  the  thirteen  more  universally 
diffused,  would  throw  the  mundane  system  into  confusion. 
Each  has  a  purpose  to  serve  which  could  be  served  by  no 


368  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

other.  Oxygen,  so  essential  to  animal  breath  and  life, 
is  the  most  largely  distributed  of  them  all,  composing 
more  than  one  half  of  the  whole  inorganic  objects  known 
to  us.  Hydrogen,  the  other  element  of  water,  no  less 
necessary  to  living  bsings,  seems  to  have  a  relation  to 
every  living  organism.  Carbon  is  a  main  source  to  us 
of  artificial  light  and  heat.  In  order  that  it  should  fulfil 
this  end,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  a  solid  while 
evolving  its  light  and  heat,  (a  gas  has  little,  and  this 
only  a  momentary,  power  of  illumination)  ;  this  is  pro- 
vided for  by  carbon  being  in  itself  always  solid.  But  if 
the  result  of  combustion  had  been  also  a  solid,  then  the 
world  would  have  been  buried  in  its  own  ashes  ;  this  evil 
is  avoided  by  the  carbon  going  off  in  carbonic  acid,  which 
is  volatile.  The  mass  is  all  glowing  one  instant,  the  next 
it  is  dissipated  into  air.  "  Carbon,"  says  Faraday,  "posses- 
ses every  quality  to  render  it  adapted  to  its  intended  uses; 
not  one  property,  however  seemingly  unimportant,  could 
"be  added  or  taken  away  without  destroying  the  whole 
harmonious  scheme  of  nature,  devised  with  such  wisdom, 
maintained  with  such  care."* 

Each  of  the  powers  and  elements  of  nature  is  in  itself 
potent,  and  capable  of  working  destructive  effects,  but  is 
checked  and  balanced  by  nice  adjustments.  What  tre- 
mendous energies  does  oxygen  display  in  the  phenomena 
of  combustion,  and  when  in  the  condition  of  ozone  ;  yet 
how  tranquil  and  passive  as  one  of  the  elements  of  water, 
and  as  locked  up  in  so  many  of  the  constituents  of  the 
earth's  crust.  The  electric  force  held  in  balance  in  a 
single  drop  of  water  would,  if  let  loose,  exceed  in  energy 
the  electricity  of  a  thunder-storm.  Man  is  placed  in  a 
state  of  things  in  which,  as  he  is  dependent,  he  is  made 
every  instant  to  feel  his  dependence. 

*  Letters  on  Non-Metallic  Elements,  p.  2TT. 


TO   ANIMALS    AND    PLANTS.  369 

What  a  vast  number  of  independent  agencies  must 
combine  and  co-operate  in  order  to  the  life  of  organized 
beings  !  It  is  wrong  to  talk  of  an  organism  developing 
itself  by  its  simple  and  independent  energy.  Whatever 
be  its  internal  nature — in  which  also,  in  our  opinion, 
there  is  complexity  and  combination — it  requires  exter- 
nal agents  in  exact  adaptation  to  it.  All  plants  need 
nourishment,  and  this  is  supplied  by  inorganic  matter ; 
all  animals  need  nourishment,  and  can  be  nourished  only 
by  matter  that  has  been  organized,  and  this  is  furnished 
directly  or  indirectly  by  the  plant.  How  beautiful  that 
adjustment  by  which  animals  breathe  of  the  oxygen  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  set  carbonic  acid  free  for  the  use  of 
plants,  while  plants  absorb  carbonic  acid,  and  set  oxygen 
free  for  the  benefit  of  animals  !  Then  all  animated  beings 
need  moisture,  which  depends  on  the  chemical  laws  unit- 
ing oxygen  and  hydrogen  to  form  water,  and  also  on  heat 
to  retain  it  in  a  state  of  vapour  in  the  air,  and  on  certain 
adjusted  relations,  in  respect  of  quantity  and  weight,  to 
the  atmosphere  in  which  it  floats.  All  organized  beings, 
too,  depend  on  light  coming  in  the  needed  proportion 
from  a  distant  body,  and  on  heat,  the  measure  of  which 
depends  on  the  state  of  the  central  part  of  the  earth,  on 
the  radiations  of  the  sun,  and  on  the  temperature  of  the 
regions  of  space.  A  considerable  change  in  any  one  of 
these  essential  conditions  would  be  fatal  to  the  whole  an- 
imated beings  on  the  earth's  surface. 

But  instead  of  dwelling  on  these  familiar  topics,  we 
shall  turn  to,  perhaps  not  so  conclusive,  but  still  to  a  less 
known  set  of  facts,  in  which  it  has  been  supposed  that 
disorder  reigns. 

We  have,  in  a  previous  chapter,  brought  forward  some 
evidences  of  adaptation  in  the  march  of  events  which 
preceded  man's  epoch,  and  which  have  given  rise  to  im- 

10* 


370  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

portant  changes  on  the  earth's  surface*,  to  fit  it  as  the 
dwelling-place  of  animals  and  plants,  and  apparently  ef- 
fected with  a  view  more  especially  to  the  advent  of  man. 
In  the  development  of  this  scheme,  a  suitable  vegetation 
was  called  into  being,  animal  tribes  were  introduced,  with 
the  command  to  multiply,  and  finally,  to  man  was  com- 
mitted a  power  over  every  living  thing. 

Our  aim,  in  the  present  section,  is  to  show  that  there 
are  traces  of  fitness  in  the  general  aspect  of  the  earth's 
contour,  in  the  arrangement  of  its  dry  land  and  waters, 
and  in  the  relations  of  its  surface  to  temperature  and 
moisture  ;  and  that  these,  in  turn,  have  some  connexion, 
more  or  less  evident,  with  the  distribution  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life,  and  also  with  the  wellbeing  of  the  human 
family. 

The  study  of  Physical  Geography,  which  has  of  late 
years  come  into  prominence,  has  little  or  no  reference  to 
those  arbitrary  divisions  of  the  world  which  occupy  the 
attention  of  the  mere  geographer.  In  examining  the 
structure  of  the  earth's  surface  physically,  attention  is 
rather  directed  to  the  valleys  and  elevations  which  diver- 
sify its  surface — those  furrows  drawn  by  the  hand  of 
time,  and  the  mountains  which,  by  their  upheaval,  have 
so  remarkably  diversified  it,  and  indirectly  have  such  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  existence  and  wellbeing  of  ani- 
mals and  plants.  Those  deep  furrows  and  prominent 
ridges,  constituting  so  remarkable  a  feature  of  the  earth, 
are  lasting  records  of  the  great  changes  to  which  it  has 
been  subjected  :  we  cannot  suppose  them  to  have  been 
fixed  by  mere  chance  ;  they  bear  distinct  traces  of  sub- 
jection to  those  great  principles  which  regulate  all  the 
plans  of  Him,  every  part  of  whose  works  is  adajDted  to 
every  other. 

The  investigations  of  observers  in  different  aires  have 


TO    ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS.  371 

established  the  following  leading  truths  in  regard  to  this 
subject. 

Land  predominates  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  water 
in  the  southern  ;  the  lands  comprising  the  old  and  new 
worlds  stand  at  right  angles  to  each  other ;  the  new 
world  is  perpendicular  to  the  equator,  the  old  parallel  to 
it.  In  reference  to  the  contour  of  the  dry  land,  it  has 
been  observed,  that  the  southern  ends  of  the  old  and  new 
worlds  terminate  in  a  point,  while  they  widen  toward  the 
north  ;  that  the  southern  points  are  high  and  rocky; 
that  the  continents  present,  to  the  east  of  their  southern 
extremities,  a  large  island  or  group  of  islands  ;  and  that 
each  continent  has  a  large  gulf  to  the  west.  Humboldt 
has  indicated  the  parallelism  of  the  two  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  ;  the  projecting  parts  of  the  one  correspond  to 
the  gulfs  of  the  other.  Steffens  has  remarked,  that  not 
only  do  the  great  continents  expand  towards  the  north, 
and  become  narrower  toward  the  south,  but  that  the 
same  is  true  of  their  peninsulas  also.  He  speaks,  like- 
wise, of  the  grouping  of  masses  of  land  two  and  two 
together,  and  points  out  an  isthmus  or  chain  of  islands 
uniting  them. 

G-uyot,  in  his  "  Earth  and  Man,"  enunciates  the  follow- 
ing great  laws,  which  apply  to  all  continents  in  regard 
to  their  relief  or  elevation  : — All  increase  gradually  in 
height  from  the  shore  to  the  interior  ;  in  all  the  conti- 
nents the  maximum  of  elevation  is  not  in  the  centre — 
hence  there  are  two  slopes  of  unequal  length,  and  in  the 
mean,  one  of  these  slopes  is  always  at  least  four  or  five 
times  greater  than  the  other  ;  and  the  height  of  the 
plains  and  of  the  table-lands  increases  at  the  same  time 
with  the  absolute  elevation  of  the  mountains.  In  the 
old  world,  though  the  principal  slope  is  toward  the  north, 
we  still  observe  a  gradual  decrease  of  the  reliefs  from 


372  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

east  to  west  :  in  the  same  manner,  in  the  new  world, 
while  the  principal  slope  is  from  the  west  to  the  east,  it 
can  be  shewn  that  the  reliefs  go  on  gradually  increasing 
from,  north  to  south,  as  in  the  old  world.*  Generally 
speaking,  although  the  mountains  increase  in  elevation 
from  the  poles  to  the  tropical  regions,  the  greatest  heights 
are  not  exactly  at  the  equator ;  in  the  old  world  they 
occupy  the  vicinity  of  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  and  in 
the  new,  are  near  the  tropic  of  Capricorn.  To  use  the 
words  of  Guyot, — "A  great  law,  a  general  law  unites 
all  the  various  systems  of  mountains  and  of  table-lands 
which  cover  the  surface  of  our  globe,  and  arranges  them 
in  a  vast  and  regular  system  of  slopes  and  counter- 
slopes." 

From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  the  position  of  the 
great  masses  of  land,  the  forms  of  their  coasts,  the  situa- 
tions and  relations  of  their  mountains,  table-lands,  and 
plains,  have  not  been  left  to  chance.  A  casual  glance  at 
a  map,  or  a  cursory  examination  of  an  individual  country, 
may  leave  the  impression  that  there  is  a  want  of  definite 
order,  that  all  is  in  inextricable  confusion  ;  but  careful 
examination  of  the  entire  wide  surface  of  our  globe,  and 
of  the  relations  of  its  various  parts,  conclusively  demon- 
strates that  He  who  commanded  the  dry  land  to  appear, 
accomplished  His  purpose  according  to  a  predetermined 
plan,  the  issues  of  which  must  have  been  foreseen  by  Him, 
even  as  they  can  now  be  seen  by  us.  An  inquiry  into  the 
special  modifications,  in  their  relations  to  climate  and  the 
distribution  of  living  objects,  enables  us  to  see  what  fatal 
consequences  must  have  resulted,  so  far  as  the  present 
economy  of  things  is  concerned,  if  the  plan  and  modifica- 
tions had  been  different. 

A  water  surface  is  slowly  heated,  and  the  consequent 

*  Guyot,  Earth  and  Man,  p  50 


TO   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS.  373 

evaporation  produced  has  an  additional  retarding  effect ; 
such  surface  is  also  slowly  cooled  by  radiation.  A  land 
surface,  on  the  other  hand,  becomes  rapidly  heated,  and 
as  rapidly  parts  with  its  heat.  Change  of  temperature 
in  water  occasions  a  change  of  position  in  its  particles , 
no  such  effect  is  produced  on  the  land  surface.  The 
sun's  rays  are  weakened  in  their  passage  through  the 
atmosphere,  owing  to  the  presence  of  clouds  and  mists, 
and  the  increased  density  of  the  lower  strata  ;  the  por- 
tion of  that  medium  nearest  the  earth,  however,  receives 
its  temperature  principally  through  radiation  from  the 
soil.  The  variety  of  surface,  whether  in  respect  of 
smoothness  or  irregularity,  elevation  or  depression,  water 
or  dry  land,  necessarily  occasions  also  a  corresponding 
difference  in  the  amount  of  heat  received  by  different 
countries  ;  from  which  it  appears  that  terrestrial  as  well 
as  atmospheric  conditions  modify  the  distribution  of  the 
heat  which  we  derive  from  the  great  central  luminary  of 
our  system. 

The  processes  of  heating  and  those  of  cooling  are 
slower  and  less  sensible  on  water  than  on  land,  and  the 
portions  of  air  in  contact  with  these  surfaces  respectively, 
are  affected  by  the  peculiarities  of  each  :  over  the  former 
the  atmosphere  contains  more  moisture,  and  is  of  more 
uniform  temperature,  than  over  the  latter.  Lands  far 
from  the  influence  of  the  sea  have  great  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold,  whereas  maritime  districts  have  a  more  uniform 
temperature  throughout  the  year.  The  division  into 
torrid,  temperate,  and  polar  zones,  though  generally  ap- 
plicable as  regards  the  climates  of  our  earth,  is  greatly 
modified  by  local  configurations  of  surface,  so  that  there 
are  no  exact  lines  of  demarcation  separating  the  torrid 
from  the  temperate  zone.  In  the  words  of  Humboldt, 
"  The  temperature  is  raised  by  the  proximity  of  a  western 


374  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

coast  in  the  temperate  zones  ;  by  the  divided  configura- 
tion of  a  continent  into  peninsulas  with  deeply-indented 
bays  and  inland  seas  ;  the  prevalence  of  southerly  or 
westerly  winds  ;  chains  of  mountains  acting  as  protect- 
ing walls  against  winds  coming  from  colder  regions ; 
the  vicinity  of  the  ocean  current,  and  the  serenity  of  the 
sky  in  summer  :  it  is  lowered  by  elevation  above  the  seas, 
when  not  forming  part  of  a  plain  ;  the  compact  configura- 
tion of  a  continent  having  no  littoral  curvatures  nor  bays; 
the  vicinity  of  isolated  peaks  ;  mountain  chains  whose 
mural  form  and  direction  impede  the  access  of  warm 
winds  ;  and  a  cloudy  summer  sky,  which  weakens  the  ef- 
fects of  the  solar  rays." 

That  comparative  sameness  which  would  result  from 
uniformity  of  surface,  exposed  to  regular  amount  of  solar 
radiation  at  different  seasons  of  the  varying  year,  is  coun- 
teracted by  special  modifications  of  our  dry  land  and  ocean; 
and  hence  the  variety  of  climate,  and  corresponding  diver- 
sity in  the  vegetation  clothing  the  earth,  and  in  the  living 
beings  that  people  it. 

The  atmosphere  near  the  earth's  surface,  or  in  contact 
with  it,  is,  as  a  whole,  much  warmer  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  equator  than  at  the  extreme  polar  regions.  This 
hotter  and  higher  air  has  a  tendency  to  ascend,  and  the 
colder  and  heavier,  an  equal  tendency  to  rush  in  from  all 
sides  and  supply  the  place  of  the  former.  To  such  dif- 
ferences of  temperature  may  generally  be  referred  all 
those  atmospheric  currents  which  constitute  the  different 
winds.*  The  direction  of  these  currents  towards  the 
equator  might  be  uniform  if  the  earth  did  not  rotate, 
and  if  its  surface  were  level.  The  currents  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  pole  have  little  rotatory  motion,  but  in 

*  For  some  ingenious  speculations  on  this  subject,  we  would  refer  to  Lieut.  Maury'i 
recent  and  excellent  work  on  the  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea. 


TO   ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS.  375 

their  progress  toward  the  equator  they  reach  successively 
portions  of  the  earth's  surface,  which  revolve  more  and 
more  rapidly,  and  thus  leave  them  behind,  (if  we  may  so 
speak,)  and  then  they  appear  to  blow  in  a  direction  con- 
trary to  that  of  the  earth's  rotation.  Hence  the  cur- 
rent from  the  north  becomes  converted  into  a  north-east, 
and  that  from  the  south  into  a  south-east  wind.  Such  is 
the  origin  of  those  regular  winds  called  the  Trades. 

The  land  and  sea  breezes  of  warm  climates  depend  on 
the  same  general  cause  ;  the  cold  air  from  the  sea  during 
the  day  flows  in  to  supply  the  place  of  the  air  which  is 
more  rapidly  heated  over  the  land,  (and  consequently 
ascends,)  the  converse  happening  at  night. 

The  aerial  currents  spoken  of,  and  their  more  regular 
modifications,  also  exercise  a  greater  or  less  influence  upon 
the  ocean  surface,  giving  rise  to  interchanges  in  its  parts. 
There  is  a  similarity  in  the  effects  produced  by  heat  upon 
the  sea,  to  those  produced  by  the  same  agent  on  the  aerial 
ocean.  The  warmer  waters  of  the  equatorial  sea  have  a 
tendency  to  flow  towards  the  poles,  the  colder  and  heavier 
portions  forming  an  under  current  toward  the  equator. 
Differences  in  the  amount  of  saline  matter,  occasioned  by 
excessive  evaporation  at  certain  points,  or  by  the  influx 
of  large  rivers,  producing  differences  in  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  ocean  water,*  necessarily  also  give  rise  to  currents. 
Whatever  power,  however,  sets  the  water  in  motion,  the 
direction  of  the  current  is  variously  modified  by  the  con- 
tour of  the  land. 

Moisture  is  being  continually  evaporated  in  an  invi- 
sible state,  and  mixes  with  the  atmosphere  ;  an  abso- 
lutely dry  air  is  therefore  almost  an  impossible  occur- 
rence, though  there  may  be  endless  modifications  in  the 
amount  of  moisture  depending  on  various  causes.     The 

•  We  would  again  refer  to  Lieut.  Maury's  work  for  details  on  this  interesting  subject, 


376  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

quantity  differs  according  to  elevation  above  the  earth's 
surface  ;  the  diminished  density  of  the  air  upwards  is 
accompanied  also  with  decrease  of  the  absolute  amount 
of  vapour  of  water  contained  in  it.  In  the  vicinity  of 
the  equator  the  suspended  vapour  is  abundant,  owing  to 
the  excessive  heat,  and  the  extent  of  water  surface  ;  it 
diminishes  toward  the  poles  ;  it  is  generally  greatest  over 
the  open  sea,  and  decreases  from  the  coast  to  the  interior 
of  continents. 

From  this  brief  account  some  idea  may  be  entertained 
of  the  remarkable  relations  between  the  gonial  beams  of 
the  sun  reaching  us  from  a  distant  point  in  space,  and  the 
atmosphere,  dry  land,  and  water  of  our  world.  These, 
again,  have  a  connexion  with  the  distribution  and  well- 
being  of  the  animals  and  plants  which  have  been  distri- 
buted over  its  surface  with  bountiful  hand. 

We  may  now  briefly  examine  some  of  the  consequences 
of  the  present  arrangements  of  the  earth's  surface.  Not 
the  least  remarkable  of  these  is  determined  by  the  gene- 
ral position  of  the  highest  elevations.  The  concentration 
and  grouping  of  the  high  and  extensive  mountain  sys- 
tems towards  the  equator  tend  to  reduce  the  temperature 
of  that  region  ;  and  the  great  extent  of  its  water-surface 
contributes  to  the  same  effect.  If  the  equatorial  surface 
had  been  all  land,  and  that  land  all  plain,  it  is  obvious, 
for  reasons  already  stated,  that  the  whole  of  that  part 
would  have  presented  the  character  of  a  parched  desert, 
and,  in  reference  to  animal  and  vegetable  life,  would  have 
been  a  dead  waste.  One  of  the  agents  necessary  to  the 
development  of  living  organisms,  namely,  heat,  would  have 
been  supplied  in  excess,  and  another,  no  less  essential, 
namely,  moisture,  would  have  been  withheld.  By  the 
complicated,  but  nicely  adjusted,  arrangements  we  have 
already  described,  the  present  constitution  of  the  earth's 


TO    ANIMALS    AND    PLANTS.  377 

surface  determines  enough  of  the  agents  in  question  for 
the  wellbeing  of  vegetable  and  animal  life. 

If  the  elevated  mountain  ranges  had  been  all  grouped 
toward  the  higher  latitudes,  eternal  snows  and  ice  would 
have  debarred  animals  and  plants  from  a  large  extent  of 
surface  at  present  occupied  by  both.  A  combination  of 
all  these  arrangements,  namely,  extensive  flat  land  at  the 
equator,  and  high  land  at  the  poles,  would  have  neces- 
sarily limited  the  range  of  living  forms,  which  must  have 
been  chiefly  confined  to  a  comparatively  narrow  zone  be- 
tween the  two  extremes. 

Even  when  we  consider  the  present  aspect  of  limited 
portions  of  the  earth's  surface,  we  are  struck  with  the 
beauty  of  the  adaptations.  Mixtures  of  two  masses  of 
air  of  different  temperatures,  and  with  dissimilar  amount 
of  moisture,  will  occasion  condensation  of  that  moisture 
in  the  form  of  mist  or  rain.  The  ascent  of  the  hot  and 
humid  air  of  the  equator  brings  it  in  contact  with  strata 
lower  in  temperature,  and  condensation  of  moisture  is  the 
result.  The  same  may  happen  when  it  moves  on  as  an 
overflowing  current  towards  the  north  and  south.  Nor 
is  it  to  be  forgotten  that  there  is  another  condensing 
agent  ;  we  refer  to  land  of  high  elevation.  Moist  winds 
meeting  with  such  an  obstacle  to  their  flow,  have  their 
onward  progress  arrested,  and  their  horizontal  changed 
into  an  ascending  course  ;  the  consequence  is,  that  the 
mass  of  air,  becoming  cooled  by  contact  with  other  and 
colder  air,  and  with  the  land  surface,  loses  its  power  of 
retaining  the  same  amount  of  vapour,  and  condensation 
of  moisture  is  the  result.  In  the  words  of  Guyot, — "  The 
mountain  chains  are  the  great  condensers,  placed  here 
and  there  along  the  continents,  to  rob  the  winds  of  their 
treasures,  to  serve  as  reservoirs  for  the  rain  waters,  and 
to  distribute  them  afterwards,  as  they  are  needed,  over 


6iiS  ADAPTATION    OF   INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

the  surrounding  plains.  Their  wet  and  cloudy  summits 
seem  to  be  untiringly  occupied  with  this  important  work. 
From  their  sides  flow  numberless  torrents  and  rivers, 
carrying  in  all  directions  wealth  and  life."* 

In  the  new  world,  the  chain  of  the  Andes — its  "great 
backbone" — is  situated  not  far  from  the  western  border ; 
to  the  east  of  this  vast  range  are  extensive  plains,  with 
interspersed  secondary  mountain  ranges  ;  and  this  pecu- 
liarity of  conformation  has  a  most  important  and  neces- 
sary relation  to  its  climatic  peculiarities.  The  trade- 
winds  from  the  Atlantic,  in  their  progress  first  reach  the 
eastern  slope,  where  the  secondary  chains  of  mountains 
condense  part  of  the  moisture  in  refreshing  showers,  and, 
finally  coming  in  contact  with  the  great  and  elevated 
principal  range,  the  air  is  robbed  of  most  of  the  vapour 
which  remains.  Hence  a  continual  flow  of  water  down 
the  eastern  slope,  clothing  that  fertile  region  with  the 
richest  vegetation,  and  giving  it  the  largest  river  sys- 
tems in  the  world.  A  necessary  result  of  this  influence 
exerted  on  the  moist  trade-wind  in  its  progress  to  the 
west,  is,  that  by  the  time  it  reaches  the  western  side  of 
the  Andes  nearly  all  its  moisture  has  been  lost,  and  a 
line  of  coast  on  the  Pacific  presents  the  character  of  an 
arid  desert.  The  extent,  however,  of  this  region  of 
draught  is  very  small,  compared  with  that  which  profits 
at  its  expense.  The  advantage  derived  from  the  arrange- 
ment on  the  one  side  of  the  Andes,  far  more  than  com- 
pensates for  the  disadvantage,  and  then  this  latter  is  still 
farther  lessened  by  local  peculiarities,  for  the  Chilian  de- 
sert would  have  presented  greater  latitudinal  extent,  if 
the  Cordilleras  toward  the  north  had  been  higher,  or  the 
continent  of  greater  breadth. 

Imagine  a  different  arrangement  of  surface  ;  the  great 

*  Guyot's  Earth  and  Man,  p.  144. 


TO    ANIMALS    AND    PLANTS.  379 

mountain  chain,  for  example,  transferred  to  the  eastern, 
instead  of  occupying  the  western  side  ;  the  consequence 
would  have  been  that  the  Atlantic  trade-wind  must 
have  had  its  progress  arrested,  and  its  vapour  condensed, 
at  a  comparatively  early  part  of  its  course  ;  the  ocean 
giving  up  a  portion  of  its  waters  to  the  passing  wind, 
would  have  received  them  hack  again  at  no  great  dis- 
tance in  space,  and  after  a  short  lapse  of  time  ;  no  ex- 
tensive river  systems  could  have  possibly  existed  as  at 
present  ; — in  a  word,  the  whole  influence  of  the  genial 
wind  would  have  been  lost,  the  descent  to  the  west  would 
have  been  far  more  extensive,  and  the  change  in  the 
land  surface,  and  the  resulting  effects  on  climatic  pecu- 
liarity, would  have  resulted  in  a  very  different  distribu- 
tion of  organic  forms,  would  have  given  rise  to  new  fea- 
tures in  the  zones  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  and 
changed  the  habitations  of  man,  and  the  relation  of  one 
part  of  mankind  to  another. 

We  may  now  direct  our  attention  to  another  part  of 
this  wide  subject,  to  modifications  which  have  respect 
to  the  waters  of  the  ocean  and  their  currents.  It  has 
been  already  stated  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  a  general 
transference  of  the  warmer  equatorial  waters  to  the  north 
and  south,  and  of  the  colder  polar  waters  towards  the 
equator,  subject  to  modification  in  consequence  of  the 
earth's  rotation.  Now  the  configuration  of  the  land  sur- 
face determines  peculiarities  in  the  distribution  of  the 
great  currents,  which  exert  no  mean  influence  on  the 
distribution  of  organic  forms.  The  great  equatorial 
current  of  the  Atlantic  has  the  largest  mass  of  its  waters 
bifurcated  by  the  projecting  point  of  Cape  San  Roque, 
one  part  being  deflected  to  the  south,  along  the  coast  of 
Brazil,  hence  called  the  Brazil  current  ;  while  the  re- 
maining and  largest  passes  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 


380  ADAPTATION   OF   INOKGANIC   OBJECTS 

then  issues  from  the  north-east  extremity  of  the  same, 
under  the  name  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  at  a  tempera- 
ture exceeding  80°  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer.  At  its 
exit  from  the  narrow  passage  between  the  point  of  Florida 
and  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  for  some  distance  beyond, 
its  flow  is  comparatively  rapid  and  northwards,  till  the 
cold  currents  from  the  north,  and  the  change  in  the  con- 
tour of  the  coast  line,  produce  such  an  influence  that  its 
direction  becomes  north-east.*  Nevertheless  it  still  re- 
tains a  high  temperature  ;  in  lat.  41°  N.  it  is  at  72*5°  F., 
and  63-5°  F.  on  the  outer  border  of  the  stream.  Its  in- 
fluence is  admitted  to  extend  to  a  large  part  ■  of  north- 
western Europe,  and  it  bears  with  it  evidence  of  its  pre- 
sence, and  of  the  regions  whence  it  flows,  in  the  form  of 
tropical  seeds  and  fruits,  &c,  which  are  stranded  on  the 
shores  bathed  by  its  waters,  and  this  even  as  far  as  North 
Cape. 

The  effect  of  such  a  body  of  warm  water  (at  Cape 
Hatteras,  Professor  Bache  found  its  temperature  little 
altered  at  a  depth  of  3000  feet)  upon  the  distribution  of 
marine  animals  and  plants  might  be  expected  ;  but  this 
influence  extends  also  to  the  lands  along  whose  shores  it 
moves.  The  late  Professor  E.  Forbes  has  shown  its 
effect  as  regards  the  distribution  of  animal  forms  on  the 
British  coasts,  the  general  Fauna  of  the  German  Ocean 
being  different  from  that  of  the  Atlantic  border-line. 
This  difference  we  have  shown  to  be  not  less  marked  in 
regard  to  marine  vegetation  ;  certain  species  of  sea-plants 
abundant  on  the  Devonshire  coast,  range  also  along  the 
Atlantic  border  as  far  as  the  Shetland  Islands,  while 
most  of  them  are  wanting  over  a  large  proportion  of  the 


*  This  explanation  is  not  deemed  sufficiently  satisfactory  by  some,  and  we  would  re- 
fer to  the  remarks  on  this  subject,  in  Lieut.  Maury's  work  already  quoted.  We  have 
chiefly  to  do  with  the  course  of  the  current. 


TO    ANIMALS    AND    PLANTS.  381 

coasts  washed  by  the  German  Ocean.*  The  general 
mildness  of  the  western  coast  of  Britain,  as  compared 
with  the  eastern,  is  mainly  to  be  attributed  to  the  com< 
paratively  warm  water  of  the  Atlantic.  The  influence 
extends  to  the  land  vegetation  of  the  continent ;  the  con- 
sequence being  that  the  line  of  cultivation  extends  nearly 
to  North  Cape,  and  barley  may  be  grown  as  far  as  70°  N. 
latitude. 

It  appears  that  while  there  is  a  general  plan  regulating 
the  relations  between  our  earth's  surface  and  the  influence 
of  the  central  luminary  of  our  system,  there  are  modifi- 
cations affecting  the  more  local  distribution  of  heat  and 
moisture  ;  and  these  are  associated  with  certain  features 
of  organic  life,  inasmuch  as  there  is  a  relation  between 
the  amounts  of  the  necessary  agents  and  the  constitution 
of  animals  and  plants.  We  cannot  avoid  coming  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  are  indications — at  least  in  our 
hemisphere,  that  great  centre  whence  civilization  has  ex- 
tended— of  suitable  physical  conditions,  which  were  not 
brought  about  by  mere  chance. 

Knowing  the  connection  which  exists  between  the  na- 
ture of  the  surface,  whether  land  or  water,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  the  sun's  rays  on  the  temperature  of  our  atmos- 
phere, is  is  quite  legitimate  to  speculate  regarding  altera- 
tions of  climate  as  related  to  changes  of  surface. 

Those  great  revolutions  which  have  taken  place  at  dif- 
ferent epochs  of  our  earth's  history,  and  the  corresponding 
phases  which  have  occurred  in  animal  and  vegetable  life, 
are  among  the  more  interesting  points  which  occupy  the 
attention,  and  are  revealed  by  the  investigations  of  the 
geologist  and  of  the  palaeontologist.  In  man's  compara- 
tively brief  period,  such  have  not  been  distinctly  exhibi- 
ted on  any  great  scale  ;  nevertheless  with  no  inconsider- 

*  See  Dr.  Dickie's  Taper  in  Proceedings  of  British  Association  for  1852 


382  ADAPTATION    OF   INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

able  degree  of  certainty,  the  physicist  can  show  what 
general  climatic  changes  would  follow  the  submergence 
of  a  continent,  and  the  increase  of  water  surface,  or  the 
converse.  Farther,  the. average  height  of  any  portion  of 
land  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  can  be  shewn  to  exercise 
a  distinct  influence  on  the  climate  of  the  region,  and  con- 
sequently, on  the  beings  which  inhabit  it.  Sir  Charles 
Lyell  in  his  "  Principles  of  Geology,"  has  shewn  how  the 
numbers  and  distribution  of  animals  and  plants  are 
affected  by  changes  in  the  physical  geography  of  the 
earth,  and  that  these  changes  may  also  promote  or  retard 
migrations  of  species,  or  alter  the  physical  conditions  of 
the  localities  which  they  inhabit.  "  There  are  always," 
says  he,  "  some  peculiar  and  characteristic  features  in  the 
physical  geography  of  each  large  division  of  the  globe,  and 
on  these  peculiarities  the  state  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life  is  dependent." 

Mr.  Hopkins,  in  his  introductory  address  to  the  meet- 
ing of  the  British  Association  at  Hull,  has  very  clearly 
shewn  the  relation  between  the  climate  of  northern 
and  western  Europe,  and  the  present  configuration  of  the 
American  coast  line,  in  reference  to  the  direction  of  the 
great  Gulf  Stream.  He  remarks — "  It  is  to  the  enormous 
mass  of  heated  water  thus  poured  into  the  colder  seas  of 
our  own  latitudes,  that  we  owe  the  temperate  character 
of  our  climate  and  not  only  do  the  maps  of  M.  Dove 
enable  us  to  assert  distinctly  this  general  fact,  but  also 
make  an  approximate  calculation  of  the  amount  to  which . 
the  temperature  of  these  regions  is  thus  affected.  If  a 
change  were  to  take  place  in  the  configuration  of  the 
surface  of  the  globe,  so  as  to  admit  the  passage  of  this 
current  directly  into  the  Pacific,  across  the  existing 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  or  along  the  base  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains  of   North  America  into    the   North  Sea — a 


TO    ANIMALS    AND    PLANTS.  383 

change  indefinitely  small  in  comparison  to  those  which 
have  heretofore  taken  place — our  mountains,  which  now 
present  to  us  the  ever-varying  heauties  of  successive  sea- 
sons, would  hecome  the  unvarying  abodes  of  the  glacier, 
and  regions  of  the  snow-storm  ;  the  cultivation  of  our  soil 
could  be  no  longer  maintained,  and  civilisation  itself  must 
retreat  before  the  invasion  of  such  physical  barbarism." 

We  are  anxious  not  to  stretch  the  argument  beyond 
what  it  can  bear.  Where  the  relations  are  so  many  and 
complicated,  we  are  not  entitled  to  say  that  no  other  sys- 
tem could  have  served  the  same  ends ;  but  we  think  that 
we  can  discover  proof  that  there  is  a  system.  We  can 
see  that  certain  changes  unless  counterbalanced  by  other 
changes,  would  have  been  fatal  to  many  of  the  animated 
beings  on  the  earth's  surface.  We  can  see,  too,  that  the 
present  condition  of  the  globe  is,  in  fact,  suited  to  the 
existing  distribution  of  organized  beings  ;  and  we  know 
of  no  means  by  which  plants  and  brutes  could  have 
adapted  themselves  to  an  essentially  different  state  of  the 
earth.  It  is  evident  that  every  part  is  suited  to  every 
other.  "  The  mind/'  says  Lieut.  Maury,  "  is  delighted, 
and  the  imagination  charmed,  by  contemplating  the 
physical  arrangements  of  the  earth  from  such  points  of 
view  as  this  which  we  have  now  before  us  ;  from  it,  the 
sea,  and  the  air,  and  the  land  appear  each  as  a  part  of 
that  grand  machinery  upon  which  the  wellbeing  of  all 
inhabitants  of  earth,  sea,  and  air,  depend  ;  and  which,  in 
their  beautiful  adaptations,  afford  new  and  striking  evi- 
dence that  they  all  have  their  origin  in  one  omniscient 
idea,  just  as  the  different  parts  of  a  watch  may  be  consi- 
dered to  have  been  constructed  and  arranged  according  to 
one  human  design." 

We  fully  acknowledge,  in  regard  to  man,  that  he  is 
capable  of  suiting  himself  to  a  variety  of  conditions  and 


384  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

circumstances,  but,  in  this  respect,  he  stands  almost  alone 
in  creation  ;  and  we  cannot  view  him  apart  from  animals 
and  plants,  for  his  existence  is  intimately  linked  to  theirs. 

His  range  in  latitude  is  certainly  very  extensive,  from 
the  snows  of  the  Artie  lands — where  those  outposts  of 
humanity,  the  Esquimaux,  pass  their  lives  between  the 
extremes  of  satiety  and  starvation — to  the  tropical  zones, 
where  their  swarthier  brothers  are  exposed  to  the  heat  of 
a  meridian  sun.  But  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  while 
he  can  exist  in  such  widely  different  circumstances,  there 
are  certain  terrestrial  conditions  necessary  to  the  develop- 
ment of  his  higher  nature  and  qualities.  u  The  distri- 
bution of  man,"  says  Guyot,  "  over  the  surface  of  the 
globe,  and  that  of  other  organized  beings,  are  not  founded 
on  the  same  principle.  There  is  a  particular  law  which 
presides  over  the  distribution  of  the  human  races,  and  of 
civilized  communities,  taken  at  their  cradle  in  their  in- 
fancy ;  a  different  law  from  that  which  governs  the  dis- 
tribution of  plants  and  animals.  In  the  latter,  the 
degree  of  perfection  of  the  type  is  proportional  to  the  in- 
tensity of  heat,  and  of  other  agents  which  stimulate  the 
display  of  material  life.  The  law  is  of  physical  order. 
In  man  the  degree  of  the  perfection  of  the  types  is  in 
proportion  to  the  degree  of  intellectual  and  moral  im- 
provement. The  law  is  of  moral  order.  .  .  .  Here  is 
the  reason  that  the  Creator  has  placed  the  cradle  of  man- 
kind in  the  midst  of  the  continents  of  the  north,  so  well 
made,  by  their  forms,  by  their  structure,  by  their  climate, 
to  stimulate  and  hasten  individual  development,  and  that 
of  human  societies." 

When  God  gave  the  earth  to  the  children,  He  meant 
it  to  be  to  them  a  source  of  something  more  than  mere 
sustenance.  There  are  scenes  spread  all  over  its  surface 
which  have  delighted  or  roused  the  soul  of  man,  and 


TO    ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS.  385 

helped  to  shape  his  character  and  his  history.  The  fer- 
tile field,  the  pleasant  dale,  the  murmuring  rill,  the 
gently-flowing  stream,  the  rugged  mountain,  the  bold 
headland,  the  thundering  cataracts,  these  have  all  been 

7  O  7 

the  means  of  soothing,  of  exciting,  or  awing  the  spirit  of 
man.  The  vegetable  productions  enhance  and  vary  the 
effect  by  the  lightness  and  gracefulness  of  their  forms 
and  harmony  of  their  colours,  by  their  tangled  luxuriance 
in  our  meadows  and  by  our  rivers'  banks,  or  by  the 
sombreness  of  their  hue  and  depth  of  shade  which  they 
furnish.  These  aspects  of  nature  have  all  had  their  in- 
fluence in  raising  up  new  ideas  and  fresh  feelings  in 
man's  soul.  The  physical  characters  of  a  region,  the  na- 
ture of  its  surface  whether  flat  or  hilly,  its  soil  and 
minerals,  the  size  and  flow  of  its  rivers,  the  mountain 
chains  which  cross  it,  and  the  bays  of  the  sea  which  in- 
dent it,  the  clearness  or  cloudiness  of  its  atmosphere — all 
these  have  moulded  to  some  extent  the  psychical  pecu- 
liarities of  man,  and  determined  his  tastes,  his  pursuits, 
and  his  destiny. 

And  there  are  still  higher  views  to  be  taken  of  human- 
ity. "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for 
to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined 
the  times  before  aj)pointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habi- 
tation." As  the  drama  of  our  race's  history  is  only  being 
acted,  we  cannot  see  the  issue  ;  but  we  are  convinced 
that  in  this  allotment  there  was  a  reference  to  the  devel- 
opment of  man's  mental  faculties,  and  ultimately  to  his 
moral  and  religious  elevation. 

We  should  leave  a  wrong  impression  if  we  did  not 
here  state  our  belief  that  our  earth,  while  adapted  to  man, 
is  adapted  to  him  as  a  being  fallen,  frail  and  depraved. 
Our  earth  had  a  paradise  upon  it  only  for  a  brief  period, 
and  within  a  narrow  range  ;  and,  truly,  an  Eden  would 


386  ADAPTATION    OF    INORGANIC    OBJECTS 

not  be  suited  to  man  with  his  present  character.  We 
frankly  acknowledge  that  we  could  not  comprehend  the 
suitableness  of  many  of  the  physical  conditions  and  ac- 
tions of  our  globe,  of  its  waters  and  its  vapours,  if  we 
regarded  man  as  a  pure  and  holy  being,  who  did  not  re- 
quire to  be  restrained  from  evil  by  physical  barriers,  who 
needed  not  suffering  to  punish  and  to  purify.  Our  earth, 
while  it  affords  nourishment  to  man,  yields  it  in  such  a 
manner  that  man  must  toil  for  it,  and,  in  toiling  for  it, 
is  kept  from  much  sin.  Physical  geography  announces, 
as  clearly  as  Scripture,  that  man  must  eat  bread  in  the 
sweat  of  his  face.  Not  only  so,  our  soil  and  atmosphere 
have  chilling  damps,  and  unwholesome  heats,  and  dele- 
terious ingredients,  which  breed  and  cherish  disease,  and 
help  to  bring  man  to  the  grave.  These  are  essential 
parts  of  the  economy  of  things  in  which  man  is  placed. 
In  short,  our  eartli  was  prepared  for  man  as  possessing 
sinful  inclinations,  and  needing  to  be  exposed  to  suffering. 
Let  us  add,  that  it  has  been  prepared  as  the  scene  of  the 
action  and  passion  of  Him  who  must  "  needs  suffer  many 
things,"  and  who  had  to  say,  "  the  foxes  have  holes,  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath 
not  where  to  lay  his  head." 

But  "  unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given," 
and  "  this  same  shall  comfort  us  concerning  our  work 
and  the  toil  of  our  hands."  We  are  convinced  that  not 
a  few  of  the  conditions  of  the  earth  have  a  reference, 
more  or  less  direct,  to  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  as  the 
only  element  fitted  to  regenerate  our  world.  As  the 
leaven  is  only  yet  leavening  the  mass,  we  cannot  discover 
its  full  relations  to  the  agents  among  which  it  is  placed. 
But  as  the  past  condition  of  the  earth  was  an  anticipa- 
tion of  the  present,  so  the  present  points  on  to  the  future. 
We  do  not  believe  that  the  present  is  the  consummated 


TO    ANIMALS    AND    PLANTS.  387 

state  of  the  earth.  Just  as  among  the  old  geological 
vertebrates,  there  were  members  which  had  not  unfolded 
all  their  capabilities,  so,  in  our  present  earth,  there  are 
agencies  at  work  which  have  not  completed  their  office. 
A  grand  plan  of  prophecy  is  advancing  both  in  the  phy- 
sical and  moral  world,  and  we  live  in  the  expectation  of 
a  coming  era,  when  the  streams  which  have  run  for  ages 
alongside  of  each  other  will  unite,  and  yield,  at  the  same 
time,  a  nobler  condition  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  of  the 
spiritual  character  of  its  human  inhabitants.  "  They 
shall  not  labour  in  vain,  nor  bring  forth  for  trouble/' 
"  Instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  in- 
stead of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle-tree."  "The 
child  shall  die  an  hundred  years  old." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    HEAVENS. 
SECT.  I. ORDER  IN  THE  MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  HEAVENLY  BODIES, 

The  ancients  appealed  with  great  confidence  and  evi- 
dent delight,  to  the  heavens,  as  fitted  above  almost 
everything  else,  to  prove  that  there  is  in  nature,  or  above 
it,  a  presiding  Intelligence.  The  spectres  of  which  they 
stood  in  awe  were  either  a  grim  fate  or  an  unsteady 
chance,  and  from  these  they  felt  that  they  could  be  most 
readily  delivered  by  the  light  which  shone  from  the 
heavenly  bodies.  The  argument  was  perfectly  conclu- 
sive of  the  end  proposed  by  those  who  advanced  it,  and 
it  was  so,  notwithstanding  that  they  were  not  able  to 
shew  whence  the  order  to  which  they  pointed  proceeded. 
They  observed  that  the  movements  of  the  celestial  bodies 
were  harmonious  ;  that  there  was,  in  consequence,  a 
beneficent  succession  of  day  and  night,  and  of  seed-time 
and  harvest,  summer  and  winter,  cold  and  hot  ;  that  the 
motions  of  the  very  stars,  which  they  styled  planetary  or 
wandering,  were  orderly — their  apparent  regularities 
obeying  a  higher  law  of  order ;  that  there  was  a  cycle 
for  eclipses,  whose  return,  therefore,  could  be  predicted  ; — 
and  they  argued,  we  believe  legitimately,  that  the  "  music 
of  the   spheres"  had  been  arranged  as  certainly  as  the 


ORDER    IN    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES.  389 

concord  which  comes  from  a  concert  of  musical  instru- 
ments. "We  are  justified  in  inferring  that  there  has  been 
intelligence  exercised  in  the  production  of  the  harmonies 
of  music,  whether  we  are  or  are  not  able  to  shew  how 
the  tones  are  produced  ;  and,  on  a  like  principle,  we  are 
entitled  to  conclude  that  the  harmony  of  the  heavens  does 
not  arise  from  the  concurrences  of  chance,  even  when  we 
cannot  unfold  its  nature  with  perfect  accuracy.  Theo- 
logy has  not  been  employing  this  argument  so  frequently 
for  the  last  age  or  two,  but  it  is  because  the  old  spectre, 
raised  in  the  darkness  of  heathenism,  has  disappeared, 
and  it  is  now  more  terrified  by  another  delusion,  that  of 
pantheism,  which  has  originated  in  the  deception  of  the 
eye  when  gazing  on  a  brighter  light.  But  the  argument 
drawn  from  the  heavens  is  as  conclusive  as  it  ever  was, 
and  can  now  be  expounded  more  fully  and  satisfactorily. 
We  mean,  in  the  brief  survey  which  follows,  to  begin 
with  the  Solar  System,  and  thence  rise  to  the  region  of 
the  Sidereal  Heavens. 

In  all,  about  seventy  planetary  bodies — planets, 
planetoids,  and  satellites — are  moving  round  the  sun, 
or  round  each  other  in  the  most  regular  manner.  Each 
of  them  is  of  an  oblate  spheroid  shape  ;  rotates  round  its 
own  axis  ;  moves  in  an  elliptic  orbit,  with  a  sun  or  a 
planet  in  one  of  the  foci  ;  has  a  fixed  length  of  day,  that 
is,  time  of  rotation  on  its  axis  ;  and  a  fixed  length  of 
year,  that  is,  time  of  making  a  revolution  round  its  pri- 
mary. The  rotatory  motions  and  the  revolutionary  mo- 
tions of  the  planets  round  the  sun,  and  of  the  primaries 
round  their  secondaries,  are  all,  with  the  exception  of 
those  of  the  satellites  of  Uranus,  in  one  and  the  same 
direction,  from  west  to  east.  All  these  bodies  are  held 
in  their  spheres  by  a  central  force,  of  which  Newton  gave 
us  the  proportional  expression.     These  may  not  be  the 


390  ORDER    IN    THE    MOVEMENTS 

ultimate  expression  of  the  laws  of  nature,  but  thoy  are 
the  obvious  forms  in  which  they  present  themselves  to 
human  observation. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  orbits  and  movements  of  the 
planets  as  being  regular,  but  this  is  true  only  approxi- 
mately. There  are  irregularities  in  them  all,  and  appre- 
hensions were  at  one  time  entertained  that  these  might 
go  on  increasing,  till  the  whole  system  became  hope- 
lessly deranged.  But  it  was  shewn,  by  the  eminent  con- 
tinental philosophers  of  last  century,  that  all  these  are 
periodical,  or  balanced  one  by  another.  The  earth's 
orbit,  at  this  present  time,  is  approaching  nearer  the 
circular  figure  ;  but  it  has  been  demonstrated,  that  after 
a  time  it  will  become  more  elongated,  leaving  the  length 
of  the  year  and  the  mean  temperature  of  the  earth  un- 
changed. The  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic — that  is,  the 
inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit — 
is  at  present  lessening  ;  and  as  the  seasons  depend  on 
this  obliquity,  which  allows  the  sun  to  shed  his  full  ra- 
diance on  different  portions  of  the  earth  at  different 
times,  it  was  feared  that  they,  and  all  on  the  earth  which 
depends  on  them,  might  be  seriously  affected  by  the 
change;  but  it  can  be  shewn  that  the  obliquity  will,  in 
course  of  time,  begin  to  increase,  and  that  the  variation, 
whether  of  increase  or  decrease,  cannot  sensibly  affect 
the  seasons.  The  moon's  mean  motion  has  for  some 
time  been  increasing  ;  this  is  due  to  the  diminishing 
eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit ;  but  in  the  course  of 
time  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth  will  begin  to  increase, 
and  the  moon's  mean  motion  to  diminish.  The  planes 
of  the  planetary  orbits  vary  in  their  positions,  but  all  the 
variations  are  periodical,  and  can  lead  to  no  inconveni- 
ence. When  these  questions  were  still  unsettled,  the 
apprehensions    of    derangement   arose   chiefly  from   the 


OF    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES.  391 

perturbations  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  each  of  which  is  as 
largo  as  all  the  planetary  bodies  then  discovered  put  to- 
gether. Long  and  anxious  calculations  were  instituted 
on  this  subject  by  Lagrange  and  Laplace  :  these  cannot 
be  detailed  without  the  aid  of  the  highest  mathema- 
tical analysis,  but  the  result  may  be  given.  Laplace 
found  that  "  there  existed  in  the  motion  of  Saturn  an 
inequality,  the  period  of  which  is  029  years,  and  in  the 
motion  of  Jupiter  a  corresponding  inequality,  which  is 
affected  with  a  contrary  sign,  and  whose  period  is  nearly 
the  same — the  difference  between  the  two  scarcely 
amounting  to  a  degree  in  a  thousand  years.  This  was 
balm  to  the  apprehensions  of  philosophers,  for  all  fears 
as  to  the  probable  disorganization  of  the  frame  of  nature 
evaporated,  and  the  explanation  of  Laplace  produced  the 
true  fcioxaiiioTuatc,  by  which  astronomers  signified  the 
restitution  of  things  to  their  former  state."*  It  is  thus 
proven  that,  looking  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  the 
disposition  of  the  various  planetary  bodies  in  reference  to 
the  sun  and  each  other,  the  solar  system  has  a  remark- 
able principle  of  stability  in  the  midst  of  constant 
change. 

Connected  with  the  Solar  System  there  is  a  still  greater 
number  of  comets.  These  used  to  be  regarded  even  by 
astronomers  with  feelings  of  alarm,  as  apparently  disturb- 
ing rather  than  harmonizing  agents.     Byron  speaks  of 

"A  pathless  comet  and  a  curse, 
The  menace  of  the  universe." 

The  impression  was  that  they  appeared  and  disappeared 
iu  the  most  capricious  manner,  and  that  the  earth  might 
regard  itself  as  fortunate  if  it  did  not  come  within  the 
sweep  of  their  tails,  which  at  times  spread  themselves 

*  Smyth's  Celestial  Cycle,  vol  L,  p.  284 


392  ,         OEDEK   IX    THE    MOVEMENTS. 

through  a  space  of  180,000,000  miles.  But  it  has  now 
been  demonstrated  of  some  of  them,  and  may  be  inferred 
of  all,  that  they  obey  laws  as  constant  as  those  of  the 
planets  themselves.  They  seem  to  consist  of  floating 
vaporous  matter  through  which  the  stars  can  easily  be 
seen.  It  has  been  ascertained  that  forty  of  them  move 
in  elliptic  orbits.  Some  of  these  are  comparatively  small, 
being  within  the  orbits  of  the  known  planets ;  others 
extend  much  farther  into  sjiace.  Neptune  revolves  round 
the  sun  at  a  distance  thirty  times  that  of  the  earth ;  but 
the  great  comet  of  1680  moves  in  an  orbit  exceeding  that 
of  Neptune  nearly  as  much  as  it  exceeds  that  of  the 
earth — the  distance  of  the  comet  being  853  mean  distances 
of  the  earth.  The  period  of  the  revolution  of  a  number 
of  them  has  been  ascertained,  and  the  time  of  their  re- 
turn can  be  predicted.  It  should  be  added  that  a  few  of 
them  seem  to  move  in  hyperbolic  curves,  while  a  large 
number  are  said  to  have  curves  sensibly  parabolic. 
Though  we  do  not  know  the  ends  contemplated  by  these 
wanderers  into  space,  nor,  indeed,  by  comets  generally, 
yet  we  know  that  they  obey  the  same  law  as  the  planet- 
ary bodies,  and  reasoning  from  analogy  we  may  conclude 
with  Newton,  that  they  carry  with  them,  and  dispense 
through  wide  regions  a  beneficial  influence. 

We  are  now  to  pass  on  from  the  sun  and  planets  to 
the  contemplation  of  the  stars.  The  distances  of  some 
of  the  nearest  of  these  stars  has  been  ascertained,  and 
shew  us  that  in  going  from  the  outer  planet  to  the  nearest 
body  of  the  sidereal  regions,  we  have  leapt  across  an  in- 
conceivable void  of  twenty-one  billions  of  miles.  Others 
are  supposed  to  be  so  far  distant,  that  light,  which  travels 
from  the  sun  in  eight  minutes,  would  require  millions 
or  even  thousands  of  millions  of  minutes  to  come  from 
them  to  our  earth.     It  follows  that  the  stars  which  we 


OF    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES,  393 

now  see  are  stars  as  they  existed  many  long  ages  ago. 
There  is  thus  opened  to  us  a  glimpse  not  only  of 
regions  of  space,  but  of  periods  of  time  stretching  far 
into  infinity.  The  telescope  shows  within  its  range  one 
hundred  millions  of  self-luminous  bodies  like  our  own 
sun.  These  are  collected  in  many  cases  into  groups 
with  regular  shapes,  and,  in  not  a  few  cases,  are  in 
binary,  or  ternary,  or  multiple  combination  with  each 
other. 

We  can  discover  even  by  the  naked  eye  that  the  stars 
in  some  places  are  gathered  into  clusters.  Thus  six  or 
seven  stars  are  seen  by  the  naked  eye  as  forming  the 
Pleiades.  The  telescope  shows  that  in  this  constellation 
there  are  nine  or  ten  times  the  number  of  stars  collected 
together  and  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  heavens. 
The  number  of  such  clusters  is  very  great,  and  they  may 
be  discovered  by  artificial  glasses,  here  and  there,  over 
the  whole  surface  of  the  heavens — but  more  numerous 
in  some  places  than  in  others,  more  numerous  in  par- 
ticular in  the  northern  than  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
The  stars  in  so  many  of  these  clusters  are  so  many  that 
they  cannot  be  counted  ;  but  on  a  rough  calculation  it 
would  appear  that  many  of  them  must  contain  ten  or 
twenty  thousand  stars,  in  an  area  not  more  than  the  tenth 
part  of  the  moon's  apparent  disc.  Some  of  these  groups 
are  of  an  irregular  shape,  which  it  is  difficult  to  classify, 
or  even  to  describe  ;  but  a  large  number  of  them  assume 
such  regular  forms,  as  to  show  that  there  is  some  princi- 
ple of  order  or  combination  among  them. 

The  most  common  form  is  stated  by  Sir  J.  Herschel 
to  be  the  circular,  or  the  elliptic  of  various  degrees  of  ec- 
centricity, from  moderately  oval  forms  to  ellipses  so  elon- 
gated as  to  be  almost  linear.*     Dr.  Robinson,  in  describ- 

+  Outlines  of  Astronomy. 


394 


ORDEIt   IN    THK    MOVEMENTS 


ing  the  discoveries  made  by  Lord  Bosse's  telescope,  says 
they  may  be  separated  into  three  classes  ;  those  which 


Fig.  75.* 

are  round,  of  nearly  uniform  brightness  ;  those  Avmch 
are  round,  but  appear  to  have 
one  or  more  nuclei  ;  and  those 
which  are  extended  in  ouo  di- 
rection, so  as  to  become  long 
stripes  or  rays.f  It  should  be 
added,  that  although  there  can 
be  no  doubt  as  to  the  regular 
character  of  the  forms  assumed 
by  distant  groups,  yet  as  won- 
derful changes  are  made  in  their 
appearance  by  higher  optical  pow- 
ers, we  are  not  at  liberty  to 
assume  that  we  have  ascertained  their  forms  with  per- 
fect accuracy.     Thus  some  of  the  nebulas  which  presented 


Fig.  764 


*  Fig.  75.  Cluster  in  Hercules.  t  Transactions  of  Royal  Irish  Academy,  184T. 

%  Fig.  70.  Annular  Ketmla  in  Lyra. 


OF    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES.  395 

the  appearance  of  a  spherical  body  to  Sir  John  Herschel's 
eighteen-inch  reflector,  have  been  transformed  by  Lord 
Rosse's  six-feet  speculum  into  a  luminous  spiral  of 
unequal  convolutions,  which  are  prolonged  at  both  ex- 
tremities into  granular  globules.  "  Almost  every  new 
observation  appears  to  confirm  the  fact  of  that  curious 
tendency  to  spiral  arrangement  in  these  nebulous  masses, 
of  which  mention  has  been  so  frequently  made."* 

Sir  John  Herschel  discovers  in  these  aggregations  of 
stars  the  operations  of  physical  laws.  "  Their  round 
form  clearly  indicates  the  existence  of  some  general  bond 
of  union  of  the  nature  of  an  attractive  force,  and  in  many 
of  them  there  is  an  evident  acceleration  in  the  rate  of 
condensation  as  we  approach  the  centre  which  is  not  re- 
ferable to  a  merely  uniform  distribution  of  equidistant 
stars  through  a  globular  space,  but  marks  an  intrinsic 
density  in  their  state  of  aggregation  greater  in  the  centre 
than  at  the  surface  of  the  mass."f  The  same  distinguished 
astronomer  J  regards  it  as  a  general  law  in  the  constitution 
of  extended  nebulae,  that  their  interior  or  brighter  strata 
are  more  nearly  spherical  than  their  exterior  or  fainter, 
their  ellipticity  diminishing  as  we  proceed  from  without 
inwards,  a  character  which  he  represents  as  favouring, 
though  not  conclusively,  "  the  idea  of  rotation  on  an  axis,, 
in  the  manner  of  a  body  whose  component  parts  have  such 
an  amount  of  mutual  connexion  as  to  admit  of  such  a  mode 
of  rotation,  and  of  the  exertion  of  some  degree  of  pressure 
one  on  another."  Some  of  the  late  disclosures  of  Lord 
Rosse's  telescope,  in  regard  to  the  prevalence  of  the  spiral 
form  in  nebular  groups,  may  so  far  effect  these  specula- 
tions, but  in  doing  so  they  open  to  our  view  a  more  won- 
derful harmony,  the  law  of  which  has  not  been  determined. 

*  President's  address  to  British  Association,  1853. 

i  Outlines  of  Astronomy,  p.  593.  J  Observations  at  Cape,  p.  8. 


39G  ORDER    IN    THE    MOVEMENTS 

The  Milky  Way,  which  spans  our  heavens  so  conspicu- 
ously, is  not  a  cluster  of  stars,  but  a  succession  of  clusters. 
Our  sun  is  one  of  the  stars  composing  this  system,  and 
is  supposed  to  be  placed  not  far  from  the  centre,  but 
nearer  the  one  side  than  the  other,  and  in  one  of  the 
poorer  or  almost  vacant  parts  of  its  general  mass.     Sir 


Fig.  77.* 

W.  Herschel  thought  he  was  able  to  number  eighteen 
million  stars  in  this  girdle,  and  his  son  speaks  of  it  aa 
consisting  entirely  of  stars,  scattered  by  millions  like 
glittering  dust  on  the  background  of  the  general  hea- 
vens. That  there  is  some  sort  of  concentration  in  this 
zone  is  evident  from  the  statement  of  Struve,  that  there 
are  nearly  thirty  times  as  many  stars  in  the  centre  of  the 
stratum  as  in  the  regions  near  the  extremities. 

On  looking  into  the  concave  of  the  heavens,  there  are 
perceived  at  unmeasurable  distances,  luminous  masses 
which  look  like  fleecy  clouds,  and  have  been  called  ne- 
bulee  by  astronomers.  Upwards  of  two  thousand  of  these 
"  world  islands"  have  been  discovered  in  the  northern, 
and  upwards  of  a  thousand  in  the  southern  hemisphere, 
by  the  telescope  employed  by  the  Herschels.  According 
to  Sir  W.  Herschel's  estimate  in  1811,  they  cover  ojoth 
part  of  the  whole  heavens.     They  were  at  one  time  sup- 

*  Fig.  77.  Herschel's  section  of  the  Milky  Way.    The  Milky  Way  appears  more 
brilliant  in  the  direction  ofF,  of  D,  of  B,  than  in  that  of  E,  C,  and  A. 


OF    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES.  397 

posed  by  certain  speculators  to  consist  of  a  sort  of  lumi- 
nous matter,  or  star-dust,  out  of  which  worlds  are  being 
made  even  now  by  general  law.  This  supposition  has 
not  been  confirmed  by  later  speculation.  Within  these 
few  years,  not  a  few  of  these  nebulas  which  were  regarded 
as  being  most  certainly  luminous  vapours,  have  been 
shewn  to  be  stars.  The  magnificent  telescope  of  Lord 
Eosse,  not  long  after  it  began  to  be  used,  shewed  that 
the  great  nebula  in  Orion,  which  was  supposed  to  be  one 
of  the  most  unresolvable  of  them  all,  consisted  of  clusters 
of  distinct  stellar  bodies.  Since  that  time,  nebula  after 
nebula  has  been  resolved  by  Lord  Eosse's  telescope,  and 
another  of  less  power  but  in  a  finer  climate,  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  the  United  States.  In  1850,  Sir  J.  Herschel 
was  prepared  to  declare  it  as  being  almost  certain,  since 
Lord  Eosse's  telescope  had  resolved,  or  rendered  resolv- 
able, multitudes  of  nebulae,  that  all  the  rest  could  be 
resolved  by  a  farther  increase  of  optical  power,  and  the 
language  might  be  made  still  stronger  and  more  decisive, 
in  consequence  of  what  has  been  accomplished  by  that 
magnificent  telescope  since  that  date.  The  nebula?  may 
now  be  confidently  regarded  as  clusters  of  stars,  and 
give  evidence  of  order,  combination,  and  law  in  the  ex- 
treme boundary  of  that  sphere  of  immeasurable  magni- 
tude which  constitutes  the  universe  as  knowable  by  us. 

It  is  worthy  of  being  mentioned,  as  illustrative  of  order 
and  law,  that  there  are  to  be  seen  in  the  expanse  of  hea- 
ven, in  many  places  two  or  more  stars  which  are  appa- 
rently near  each  other,  and  which  have  been  shown  to  be 
mutually  connected  as  part  of  one  system.  It  not  unfre- 
quently  happens  that  a  centre  of  light,  which  appears  as 
only  one  star  to  the  naked  eye,  is  turned  into  two  or  more 
stars  by  a  telescope  of  very  ordinary  power.  Sometimes 
the  relation  is  merely  optical,  and  not  real,  that  is,  stars 


398  ORDER    OF    THE    MOVEMENTS 

at  a  great  distance  from  each  other  may  seem  near,  be- 
cause though  the  one  he  far  behind  the  other,  they  lie 
nearly  in  the  same  line  of  vision  to  the  eye.  But  the 
number  of  double  stars  in  the  heavens,  being  about  6000 
in  all,  is  far  too  numerous  to  be  referred  to  any  such 
cause.  Among  these,  according  to  a  table  published  in 
1849,  650  are  known  in  which  a  change  of  position 
can  be  incontestably  proved.*  Besides  it  has  been  as- 
certained in  regard  to  considerably  more  than  100  double 
stars,  that  they  revolve  about  each  other  in  regular  or- 
bits. In  some  cases  there  is  a  smaller  star  joined  to  a 
large  one,  in  other  cases  there  are  two  or  more  stars  of 


Fig.  78. 

nearly  equal  size  revolving  round  a  common  centre  of 
gravity.  The  orbit  in  which  these  connected  stars  move 
is  ascertained  to  be  elliptical.  These  phenomena  lead 
Sir  J.  Herschel  unhesitatingly  to  declare  the  stars  to  be 
subject  to  the  same  dynamical  laws,  and  obedient  to  the 
same    power    of    gravitation,    which    govern    our    sys- 


*  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  iii.  p.  280,  Otte's  Translation  ;  additions  being  made  every 
year  by  the  labours  of  Argelander,  Sturve,  &c. 
t  Fig.  78.  Binary  star,  that  is,  two  stars  rovolving  round  a  common  centre. 


OF    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES.  399 

tern.  The  period  of  revolution  of  some  of  these  combined 
stars  has  been  determined,  and  is  found  to  vary  in  differ- 
ent binary  and  multiple  systems  from  30  to  upwards  of 
700  years.  We  have  thus  glimpses  opened  up  to  us  in  the 
depths  of  the  sky,  not  of  planet  revolving  round  sun,  but 
of  sun  moving  round  sun.*  In  the  solar  system  we  have 
satellite  rolling  round  planet,  and  planet  around  sun,  and 
double,  triple,  and  multiple  stars  revolving  round  each 
other,  and  thousands  of  millions  of  stars  grouped  together 
in  a  common  system. 

In  consequence  of  having  ascertained,  as  is  supposed, 
the  distance  of  some  of  these  binary  stars  from  the 
earth,  it  is  not  difficult  to  calculate,  with  an  approach  to 
certainty,  what  are  the  dimensions  of  their  orbits.  These 
combined  stars  seem  to  be  at  a  much  greater  distance 
from  each  other  than  the  farthest  planet  of  our  system  is 
from  the  sun.  The  distance  of  the  two  stars  of  61  Cygni 
from  each  other,  is  44  times  the  distance  of  the  sun  from 
the  earth.  The  distance  of  these  double  and  triple  suns 
from  each  other  is  thus  greater  than  the  distance  of  the 
planets  from  the  sun,  in  nearly  as  high  a  proportion  as 
the  distance  of  the  planets  from  the  sun  exceeds  that  of 
the  satellites  from  their  primaries.  All  this  gives  the 
appearance  of  a  regulated  order  in  the  relative  distance 
of  satellite  from  planet,  of  planet  from  sun,  and  of  sun 
from  sun,  so  as  to  allow  them  to  move  freely,  each  in  its 
own  sphere,  whether  a  wider  or  narrower. 

The  region  wrhich  we  have  been  surveying  used  to  be 
called  that  of  the  fixed  stars ;  but  it  has  been  shewn  that 
the  language  is  inapplicable.     Every  star  is  in  motion : 

*  It  is  most  interesting  to  notice  that  many  of  the  double  stars  have  colours  which 
are  complementary  the  one  of  the  other.  The  larger  slaris  commonly  of  a  ruddy  or 
orange  tinge,  and  the  smaller  one  appears  blue  or  green.  "No  green  or  blue  star  of 
any  decided  hue,"  says  Sir  J.  Ilerschel,  "has  ever,  we  believe,  been  noticed  unassociated 
with  a  companion  brighter  than  itself." 


400  ORDER    IX    THE    MOVEMENTS 

absolute  rest  is  unknown  in  the  material  universe.  Our 
sun,  with  its  retinue  of  planets,  is  travelling  through 
space  at  the  rate  of  422,000  miles  a  day,  towards  a  point 
near  the  constellation  of  Hercules.  The  mind  grows 
dizzy  in  contemplating  such  velocity,  but  everything, 
meanwhile,  is  as  stable  as  if  all  were  at  rest.  It  is  evident 
that  arrangements  have  been  made  to  produce  equilibrium 
among  powers,  each  of  which,  acting  alone,  might  work 
only  destruction,  and  stability  among  objects  which  are 
never  for  one  instant  at  rest. 

Even  before  the  construction  of  Lord  Kosse's  telescope, 
it  was  thought  that  astronomers  had  sounded  space  to 
nearly  500  times  the  distance  of  Sirius,  that  is,  ten  thou- 
sand billions  of  miles.  "  Hence  it  seems  as  if,  were  the 
world  island,  in  which  our  system  is  placed,  viewed  from 
the  cluster  in  the  hand  of  Perseus,  it  would  probably 
appear  as  an  assemblage  of  telescopic  stars,  ranged  behind 
each  other  in  boundless  perspective  ;  from  that  of  An- 
dromeda, it  would  diminish  to  a  milky  way,  or  pure 
nebulosity."  It  may  be  asserted,  without  any  risk  of 
contradiction,  that  nowhere  within  this  wide  knowable 
space,  do  we  discover  even  the  semblance  of  chance,  con- 
fusion, lawlessness,  or  oversight.  Nay,  it  may  now  be 
most  confidently  affirmed,  that  nowhere  within  this  ex- 
tensive region,  or  in  the  long  ages  opened  up  to  us  by 
the  time  which  light  requires  to  travel  from  different 
stars,  do  we  discover  any  traces  of  a  chaos  now  existing, 
or  ever  having  existed,  or  of  worlds  being  formed  by  na- 
tural law,  or  of  worlds  only  half  formed  or  in  the  course 
of  formation,  or  of  any  object  overlooked,  or  out  of  place, 
or  not  in  harmony  with  all  the  rest.  As  far  as  the  tele- 
scope can  carry  our  vision,  or  enable  thought  to  carry  out 
its  calculations,  we  find  all  the  bodies  already  formed, 
already  in  harmony,  moving  on  in  their  spheres  as  if  per- 


OF    THE    HEAVENLY    BODIES.  401 

forming  some  great  and  good  office,  and  all  so  perfect, 
that  our  feelings  are  in  harmony  with  the  declaration  of 
their  Maker,  when  He  is  re23resented  as  proclaiming  them 
"to  be  all  very  good." 

SECT.  II. SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    ORDER   TO   THE 

HARMONY    OP    COSMICAL    BODIES. 

It  is  very  manifest  that  every  one  part  of  the  visible 
universe  is  intimately  connected  with  every  other.  There 
are  certain  agents  which  seem  to  operate  through  the 
whole  of  it  ; — there  is  gravitation  attracting  all  the 
bodies  to  each  other ;  there  is  light  flowing  from  mil- 
lions of  luminaries  ;  there  is  heat  radiating  everywhere 
from  the  warmer  to  the  colder  regions  ;  there  is  probably, 
also,  a  universally  diffused  ether  ;  and  possibly,  also, 
some  others  of  no  less  extensive  influence,  such  as  elec- 
tricity and  magnetism.  We  are  now  to  shew  that  all 
these  require  an  adjustment  in  order  to  their  beneficial 
operation. 

First,  Gravitation. — The  planets  move  in  nearly  cir- 
cular orbits  round  the  sun,  and  the  satellites  round  their 
primaries,  and  binary  and  multiple  stars  round  each 
other,  in  consequence  of  the  balanced  adjustment  of  the 
velocity  of  the  moving  body  and  the  central  attractive 
force.  Without  a  nice  adaptation  of  the  one  to  the 
other,  two  opposite  but  equally  deleterious  results  might 
have  followed.  Had  the  velocity  been  beyond  its  proper 
proportion,  the  body  would  have  rushed  away  in  a 
hyperbolic  curve  into  space,  to  run  the  risk  of  collision 
with  other  bodies,  and  certainly  to  derange  every  other 
well-arranged  system  into  which  it  might  intrude.  On 
the  other  hand,  had  the  centripetal  force  been  in  excess, 
the  separate  existence  of  the  bodies  would  have  been  lost 


402  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    ORDER 

in  a  mutual  collapse  and  embrace,  which  must  have  de- 
stroyed every  existing  arrangement  upon  their  surface. 
In  a  calculation  of  probability  in  a  previous  section, 
(pp.  48-50,)  we  have  referred  to  two  circumstances  as 
needful  to  the  stability  of  the  mundane  system  :  first,  that 
the  planets  have  a  motion  round  the  sun  in  the  same  di- 
rection ;  and  have  orbits  with  very  little  and  scarcely-vary- 
ing eccentricity,  in  planes  with  very  moderate  differences 
of  inclination.  There  are  conditions  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  continuance  of  the  system  ; — as  the  invariability  of 
the  major  axis  of  the  orbits  of  the  planets,  proved  by 
lengthened  investigations,  in  which  the  highest  powers 
of  the  infinitesimal  calculus  were  employed,  by  the  most 
distinguished  mathematicians  of  the  latter  half  of  last 
century  ;  as  the  long  periodic  change  of  the  eccentricity 
of  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  which  together  amount  to  nearly 
a  thousandth  part  of  the  mass  of  the  sun,  and  which 
might  have  deranged  the  whole  system  under  a  different 
arrangement  ;  and  there  is  the  farther  circumstance,  that 
the  planetary  revolutions  have  among  each  other  no  com- 
mon measure.  Change  any  one  of  these  essential  condi- 
tions, and  the  issue,  sooner  or  later,  would  be  a  fearful 
conflict,  in  which  every  existing  cosmical  arrangement, 
with  the  planetary  inhabitants,  such  as  animals  and 
plants,  would  inevitably  be  destroyed. 

But  here  we  must  allude  to  the  attempt  which  has 
been  made  to  turn  aside  the  force  of  this  argument,  by  a 
scheme  of  ingenious  cosmogony  suggested  by  Laplace. 
According  to  this  hypothesis,  the  whole  solar  system  has 
been  formed  out  of  floating  matter  rotating  round  an 
axis,  and  which,  being  at  first  greatly  heated,  has,  in 
the  process  of  cooling  and  condensation,  given  off  the 
planets  one  by  one,  beginning  with  the  outer  ;  which 
planets,  again,  being  thrown  off  in  the  form  of  rings,  have, 


TO   THE   HARMONY   OF   COSMICAL   BODIES.  403 

in  their  condensation,  given  off  the  satellites.  We  do 
not  mean  to  enter  upon  a  minute  examination  of  this 
hypothesis.  It  was  connected  with,  and  received  much 
of  its  support  from,  the  supposed  existence  of  unformed 
nebulous  matter  floating  in  space.  Lord  Rosse's  telescope 
has  dispelled  these  clouds,  and  the  theories,  light  as 
clouds,  which  were  built  on  them.*  It  may  be  acknow- 
ledged that  there  are  some  of  the  peculiar  phenomena 
of  planetary  movements  which  can  thus  be  accounted  for. 
But  there  are  other  facts  beyond  its  power  to  explain,  as 
that  the  satellites  of  Uranus  should  move  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  that  of  all  the  other  planetary  bodies.  "  The 
satellites,"  says  Professor  Nichol,  an  ardent  supporter  of 
the  hypothesis,  "  present  farther  a  curious  anomaly,  or 
rather  peculiarity.  So  far  as  we  know,  they  all  rotate 
on  their  axis,  like  our  moon,  in  the  exact  period  of  a 
revolution  in  their  orbits.  This  mode  of  rotation  is  evi- 
dently that  of  the  original  ring,  but  why  the  satellites 
have  preserved  that  period  is  a  mystery."f  This  theory 
has  been  subjected  to  a  searching  examination  by  Sir  J. 
Herschel.  "  If,"  says  he,  "  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  de- 
monstrated truth,  or  as  receiving  the  smallest  support 
from  any  observed  numerical  relations  which  actually 
hold  good  among  the  elements  of  the  planetary  orbits,  I 
beg  leave  to  demur.  Assuredly,  it  receives  no  support 
from  the  observation  of  the  effects  of  sidereal  aggrega- 

*  Some  may  urge  that  the  hypothesis  has  heen  corroborated  by  certain  experiments  of 
Plateau  as  to  the  phenomena  of  a  free  liquid  mass  withdrawn  from  the  action  of  gravity. 
In  speaking  of  the  division  of  liquid  masses  into  parts,  Plateau  had  compared  the  minute 
masses  to  satellites;  but  in  a  subsequent  paper  he  corrects  the  misapprehensions  to  which 
his  language  had  given  rise,  as  if  it  favoured  Laplace's  cosmogony.  "  It  is.  clear,"  he 
eays,  "that  this  mode  of  formation  is  entirely  foreign  to  Laplace's  Cosmogenic  Hypothe- 
sis; therefore,  we  have  no  idea  of  deducing  from  this  little  experiment,  which  only  re- 
fers to  the  effects  of  molecular  attraction,  and  not  to  those  of  gravitation,  any  argument 
in  favour  of  the  hypothesis  in  question,  an  hypothesis  which,  in  other  respects,  we  do  not 
auopt." — Taylor's  Scientific  Memoirs  vol.  v. 

+  Planetary  System,  p.  241. 


404  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    ORDER 

tion,  as  exemplified  in  the  formation  of  globular  and 
elliptic  clusters,  supposing  them  to  have  resulted  from 
such  aggregation.  For  we  see  this  cause,  working  out 
in  thousands  of  instances,  to  have  resulted,  not  in  the 
formation  of  a  single  large  central  "body,  surrounded  by 
a  few  smaller  attendants,  disposed  in  one  plane  around 
it,  but  in  systems  of  infinitely  greater  complexity,  con- 
sisting of  multitudes  of  nearly  equal' luminaries,  grouped 
together  in  a  solid  elliptic  or  globular  form.  So  far, 
then,  as  any  conclusion  from  our  observations  of  nebulae 
can  go,  the  result  of  agglomerative  tendencies  may,  in- 
deed, be  the  formation  of  families  of  stars  of  a  general  and 
very  striking  character,  but  we  see  nothing  to  lead  us  to 
presume  its  farther  result  to  be  the  surrounding  of  those 
stars  with  planetary  attendants."'* 

But  let  us  admit,  for  argument's  sake,  the  truth  of  this 
hypothesis,  and  we  still  urge  that  numberless  adaptations, 
and  these  of  a  very  remarkable  description,  are  needed  in 
order  to  admit  of  this  loose  floating  matter  being  formed 
into  the  harmonious  and  beneficent  results  which  fall 

*  Opening  Address,  British  Association,  1845.  There  follows  a  severe  criticism  of  the 
pretended  verification  of  that  hypothesis  by  M.  Comte,  -which  had  been  quoted  with 
approbation  by  the  author  of  the  Vestiges  of  Creation,  and  by  J.  S.  Mill  in  his  Logic. 
"If,  in  pursuit  of  this  idea,  we  find  the  author  first  computing  the  time  of  rotation  the 
sun  must  have  had  about  its  axis,  so  that  a  planet  situate  on  its  surface,  and  forming 
part  of  it,  should  not  press  on  that  surface,  and  should  therefore  be  in  a  state  of  indif- 
ference as  to  its  adhesion  or  detachment;  if  we  find  him,  in  this  computation,  throwing 
overboard,  as  troublesome,  all  those  essential  considerations  of  the  law  of  cooling,  the 
change  of  spheroidal  form,  the  internal  distribution  of  density,  the  probable  non-circula- 
tion of  the  internal  and  external  shells  in  the  same  periodic  time,  on  which  alone  it  is 
possible  to  execute  such  a  calculation  correctly,  and  avowedly,  as  a  short  cut  to  a  result, 
using,  as  the  bijsis  of  his  calculation,  '  the  elementary  Huygcnian  theorems  for  the 
evaluation  of  centrifugal  forces  in  combination  with  the  law  of  gravitation,' — a  combina- 
tion which,  I  need  not  explain  to  those  who  have  read  the  first  book  of  Newton,  leads 
direct  to  Kepler's  law  ;  and  if  we  find  him  then  gravely  turning  round  upon  us,  and  ad- 
ducing the  coincidence  of  the  resulting  periods,  compared  with  the  distances  of  the  plan- 
ets, with  this  law  of  Kepler,  as  being  the  numerical  verification  in  question  ;— where,  I 
would  ask,  is  there  a  student  to  be  found,  who  has  graduated  as  a  Senior  Optime  in  this 
University,  who  will  not  at  once  lay  his  finger  on  the  fallacy  of  such  an  argument,  and 
declare  it  a  vicious  circle  ?"  &c. 


TO    THE    HARMONY    OF    COSMICAL    BODIES.  405 

under  our  notice  on  the  earth,  and  which  maybe  presumed 
to  exist  also  in  the  other  planets.  Whence,  for  example, 
the  striking  adaptation  of  the  gravitating,  chemical,  gal- 
vanic, and  electric  powers  to  each  other  ?  Whence  the 
plants  and  animals  which  cover  the  face  of  the  earth  ? 
Whence  animal  instincts  and  the  human  soul  ?  Whence 
the  correspondence  between  all  these,  and  the  atmosphere, 
and  the  light  of  the  sun  ?  All  this  is  wonderful  on 
any  system,  but  becomes  vastly  more  incomprehensible 
when  it  is  supposed  that  it  originated  in  certain  nebulous 
matter.  The  cosmogony  referred  to  has  never  been  car- 
ried out  into  details  ;  but  if  it  had,  we  could  have  taken 
these  up,  and  have  proved  that  every  one  of  them  implies 
an  adjustment.  But  dealing  with  it  in  its  present  vague 
form,  it  may  be  maintained  that  either  the  properties  of 
this  cosmical  matter  must  have  been  such  as  in  their  own 
nature  to  imply  a  designing  mind  in  the  formation  of 
them,  or  adjustments  must  have  been  made  in  order  to 
their  beneficent  operation  ;  and  on  either  supposition  we 
have  evidence  of  intelligence,  and  the  hypothesis  leaves 
the  theistic  argument  where  it  found  it. 

We  go  on  to  mention  another  beautiful  arrangement 
which  should  be  regarded  as  equally  striking,  whether 
we  adopt  or  reject  the  hypothesis  of  Laplace.  In  the 
annual  motion  of  the  earth  round  the  sun,  its  axis  is  in- 
clined from  the  perpendicular  to  its  orbit  at  an  angle  of 
twenty-three  degrees,  and  remains  constantly  parallel  to 
this  direction.  By  this  arrangement  the  changes  of 
temperature  on  the  earth's  surface,  and  of  the  seasons,  are 
produced.  Had  the  axis  of  the  earth,  instead  of  being  so 
inclined,  been  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit,  as 
is  the  case  in  Jupiter,  the  sun  would  always  have  been 
vertical  to  the  same  line  of  places,  the  equatorial  regions 
would  have  been  parched  by  the  heat,  while  the  regions 


406  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    ORDER 

called  teemprate  in  the  present  arrangement,  would  have 
been  consigned  to  utter  desolation.  By  the  existing  dis- 
position, the  various  parts  of  the  earth  are  brought  more 
fully  under  the  solar  influence,  and  we  have  all  the  de- 
lightful and  beneficent  effects  which  flow  from  the  variety 
of  climates. 

Again,  the  earth  is  nearer  the  sun  at  one  season  than  at 
another,  and  without  some  counteracting  influence  there 
would  be  an  inconvenient  increase  both  of  the  cold  of 
winter  and  the  heat  of  summer  in  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere, and  the  climates  of  the  two  hemispheres  would  be 
rendered  altogether  unlike  each  other.  But  any  injury 
which  might  arise  from  this  cause  is  made  to  disappear 
chiefly  by  means  of  the  circumstance  that  the  point  of 
the  earth's  orbit  which  is  nearest  the  sun  is  that  over 
which  it  moves  with  the  greatest  speed.  "  It  follows," 
says  Poisson,  "from  the  theory  of  Lambert,  that  the 
quantity  of  heat  which  is  conveyed  by  the  sun  to  the 
earth,  is  the  same  during  the  passage  from  the  vernal  to 
the  autumnal  equinox,  as  in  returning  from  the  latter  to 
the  former.  The  much  longer  time  which  the  sun  takes 
in  the  first  part  of  his  course  is  exactly  compensated  by 
its  proportionably  greater  distance,  and  the  quantities  of 
heat  which  is  conveyed  to  the  earth  is  the  same,  whether 
in  the  one  hemisphere  or  in  the  other,  north  or  south."® 

Second,  Tlie  Universal  Diffusion  of  Light. — Under 
this  head  we  are  called  first  to  admire  the  wisdom  of  the 
arrangement  by  which  a  luminous  body  is  placed  in  the 
centre  of  a  solar  system  ;  there  being  no  physical  ne- 
cessity, so  far  as  we  can  discover,  for  such  a  disposition. 
Some  astronomers  have  supposed  (it  has  not  been  con- 
firmed by  later  investigation)  that  there  are  binary  and 
multiple  stars  moving  round  central   bodies  which  are 

*  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  iv.  p,  460. 


TO    THE    HARMONY    OF    COSMICAL   BODIES.  407 

not  luminous  ;  it  is  evident  that  if  our  earth  had  been 
made  to  circle  round  such  a  body,  or  round  a  body  simi- 
lar in  constitution  to  itself,  most  of  the  living  objects 
upon  its  surface  would  have  become  extinct.  There  is 
an  evident  harmony  between  the  force  or  amount  of 
light  coming  from  the  sun  and  the  organism  of  plants 
and  animals,  for  the  life  of  both  of  which  light,  and  this 
in  a  certain  measure,  is  requisite.  Had  the  light  been 
much  stronger  than  it  is,  it  would  have  dazzled  and 
blinded  the  eyes  of  animals,  and  stimulated  to  an  exces- 
sive extent  the  growth  of  certain  plants,  while  it  would 
have  utterly  destroyed  others.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
diminution  to  any  great  extent  of  the  luminiferous  power 
of  the  sun  would  have  imparted  to  our  earth  a  dull  and 
murky  appearance,  and  have  rendered  it  impossible  for 
the  plants  of  the  earth,  deprived  of  their  needful  stimulus, 
to  subsist.  If  our  earth,  with  its  present  vegetable  cover- 
ing and  animal  tenants,  had  been  as  far  removed  from  the 
sun  as  Uranus  or  Neptune,  or  even  Jupiter,  it  is  certain 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  species  of  living  beings  would 
long  before  this  have  ceased  to  exist.  Taking  the  inten- 
sity of  light  upon  the  earth  as  one,  the  proportions  in  the 
other  planets  will  be  as  follows  : — 


Mercury, 

.  6-674. 

Jupiter,    . 

.  0-036. 

Venus,  . 

.  1-911. 

Saturn,  .  . 

.  o-oii. 

Mars,  .  . 

.  0-431. 

Uranus,    . 

.  0-003. 

Pallas,    . 

,  0-130. 

Neptune,  . 

.  o-oov 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  earth  could  not  have  been 
placed  in  the  room  of  any  one  of  the  other  planets  with- 
out endangering  the  existence  of  the  greater  number  of 
the  organized  objects  upon  its  surface.  It  may  also  be 
mentioned  here  that  there  is  a  beautiful  harmony  insti- 
tuted between  light  and  the  gaseous  envelope  surround- 

*  Cosmos,  vol.  iv.  p.  4(U 


408  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    OEDER 

ing  our  earth  whereby  the  sun's  rays  are  diffused  through 
the  atmosphere,  and  are  reflected  upon  us  from  every 
point  of  the  concave  heavens,  in  the  infinitely  varied 
hues  of  sky  and  cloud,  instead  of  all  streaming  with  burn- 
ing power  from  the  sun  alone,  and  leaving  the  rest  of  the 
hemisphere  black  as  if  it  had  been  clothed  in  mourning 
attire. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  being  noticed,  that  in  consequence 
of  the  comparatively  small  eccentricity  of  its  orbit,  much 
the  same  quantity  of  light  falls  upon  the  earth  at  all 
times.  In  this  respect  it  may  be  compared  with  some  of 
the  other  planets. 

While  the  earth,  in  perihelion,  is  T034,  it  is  in  aphelion  0-967. 

Mercury,       10-58,  4'59. 

Mars,  0-52,  0'36. 

Juno,  0-25,  0-09. 

If  the  earth's  eccentricity  had  been  as  great  as  that  of 
Mercury  or  Juno,  it  is  certain  that  not  a  few  of  our  most 
useful  and  beautiful  plants  would  have  altogether  disap- 
peared, or  rather  could  never  have  existed. 

TJiirdly,  The  Universal  Diffusion  of  Heat. — There  is 
need  of  a  number  of  harmonious  adjustments  in  order  to 
the  beneficent  operation  of  this  agent  so  powerful  for  good 
but  also  for  evil. 

It  will  be  readily  acknowledged  that  there  must  be  a 
uniform  temperature  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  in 
order  to  the  continuance  of  organized  beings  upon  it. 
We  know,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  earth's  surface 
has  had  much  the  same  temperature  throughout  histori- 
cal ages.  The  paintings  and  inscriptions  on  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt  shew  that  in  that  country  much  the 
same  plants  were  cultivated,  and  that  they  ripened  about 
the  same  season  between  3000  and  4000  years  ago,  in 
the  ages  of  the  Pharaohs,  as  at  this  day.     The  plants  of 


TO    THE    HARMONY   OF    COSMIOAL    BODIES.  409 

Canaan  at  the  time  of  Moses  and  Joshua  were  not  dif- 
ferent from  what  they  are  now.  But  the  sustaining  of 
this  equable  temperature  depends  on  a  combination  of 
circumstances.  First,  there  are  various  sources  of  heat, 
and,  in  particular,  there  is  the  internal  heat  of  the  earth, 
which  is  known  to  be  much  greater  than  that  of  the  ex- 
terior, and  increasing  as  we  go  farther  down,  and  there 
are  the  beams  of  the  sun  daily  taking  the  circuit  of  the 
earth.  Were  these  influences  operating  alone,  the 
temperature  of  the  earth's  surface  would  soon  be  in- 
conveniently or  rather  destructively  heated.  But  to 
counterbalance  them,  we  have  the  earth's  surface  and  its 
atmosphere .  radiating  heat  into  the  circumambient  re- 
gions of  space,  which  are  ascertained  to  have  a  very  low 
temperature,  being  lower  than  the  freezing  point  of 
mercury.  Our  earth  has  thus,  on  the  one  hand,  power- 
ful fires  to  heat  it,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  an  extensive 
reservoir  of  cold  to  keep  it  cool  ;  its  surface  is  warmed  by 
the  internal  heat,  and  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  ;  and  its 
temperature  being  thus  rendered  higher  than  that  of  the 
vault  of  heaven,  it  is  ever  radiating  heat  towards  the  re- 
gions of  space  according  to  the  beautiful  law  of  the 
universe,  whereby  all  things  tend  towards  an  equilibrium. 
The  uniform  temperature  of  the  earth  from  year  to  year, 
and  from  age  to  age,  necessary  to  the  continuance  of  the 
races  of  plants  and  animals,  is  sustained  by  the  harmoni- 
ous adjustment  of  agents  which  seem  to  be  distinct  from, 
and  independent  of,  each  other,  except  in  the  original 
collocation  of  all  things.  An  increase  in  the  internal 
heat,  or  in  the  heat  streaming  from  the  sun,  would 
speedily  scorch  the  ground,  and  burn  up  the  plants 
which  grow  upon  it.  The  same  dire  effects  would  fol- 
low, were  the  cool  celestial  regions  not  ready  to  receive 
the  heat  from  the  sun-warmed  face  of  our  earth  and  at- 

18 


410  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED   IN    ORDER 

mosphere.  On  the  other  hand,  were  there  not  sources 
of  heat  within  or  without,  the  temperature  of  the  earth 
would  speedily  sink  below  zero,  and  the  whole  globe 
be  as  much  ice-bound  as  the  north  or  south  poles. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  temperature  of  the  ce- 
lestial regions  is  dependent,  if  not  in  whole,  at  least  in 
part,  on  the  temperature  of  the  innumerable  bodies  which 
move  in  them.  We  are  thus  led  to  see  that  we  are  de- 
pendent for  our  continued  existence,  and  our  everyday 
comforts  at  home  and  abroad,  on  the  disposition  through 
millions  of  years  of  millions  of  bodies,  removed  from  us 
millions  of  miles. 

On  the  earth  we  are  dependent  for  our  very  artificial 
fires,  and  for  the  mechanical  power  which  can  be  gene- 
rated by  them,  upon  influences  which  have  descended 
from  heaven  in  ages  long  past.  We  are  using  coal 
formed  of  vegetables  fostered  in  former  geological  eras 
by  the  sun's  rays.  Allusion  is  made  to  these  and  to 
some  other  beneficial  effects  of  the  solar  rays  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  from  Sir  John  Herschers  Treatise  on 
Astronomy  : — "  B}r  the  vivifying  action  of  the  sun's  rays, 
vegetables  are  enabled  to  draw  support  from  inorganic 
matter,  and  become  in  their  turn  the  support  of  animals 
and  of  man,  and  the  sources  of  those  great  deposits  of 
dynamical  efficiency  which  are  laid  up  for  human  use  in 
our  coal  strata.  By  them  the  waters  of  the  sea  are  made 
to  circulate  in  vapours  through  the  air,  and  irrigate  the 
land,  producing  springs  and  rivers.  By  them  are  pro- 
duced all  disturbances  of  the  chemical  equilibrium  of  the 
elements  of  nature  which,  by  a  series  of  compositions  and 
decompositions,  give  rise  to  new  products,  and  originate  a 
transfer  of  materials." 

The  far-reaching  truth  here  enunciated  has  opened 
the  way  to  experiments,  calculations,  and  speculations, 


TO    THE    HAKMONY    OF    COSMICAL    BODIES.  411 

which  all  tend  to  shew  how  intimately  connected  every 
one  part  of  the  visible  universe  is  with  every  other.  "  We 
must  look,  then,  to  the  sun,"  says  Professor  W.  Thomson, 
"  as  the  source  from  which  the  mechanical  energy  of  all 
the  motions  and  heat  of  living  creatures,  and  all  the 
motion,  heat,  and  life  derived  from  fires  and  artificial 
flames,  is  supplied.  The  natural  motions  of  air  and  water 
derive  their  energy  partly,  no  doubt,  from  the  sun's  heat, 
but  partly  also  from  the  earth's  rotatory  motion,  and  the 
relative  motions  and  mutual  forces  between  the  earth, 
moon,  and  sun.  If  we  except  the  heat  derivable  from  the 
combustion  of  native  sulphur  and  of  meteoric  iron,  every 
kind  of  motion  (heat  and  light  included)  that  takes  place 
naturally,  or  that  can  be  called  into  existence  through 
man's  directing  powers  on  this  earth,  derives  its  mechani- 
cal energy  either  from  the  sun's  heat,  or  from  motions 
and  forces  among  bodies  of  the  solar  system." 

Such  results  having  been  attained  in  regard  to  the 
source  of  the  heat  and  mechanical  energy  called  forth  on 
the  earth,  the  question  is  started,  Whence  does  the  sun 
set  the  heat  and  light  which  he  sheds  ?  There  are  insu- 
perable  scientific  difficulties  in  the  way  of  supposing  that 
the  sun  is  a  heated  body  losing  heat,  or  that  the  sun  is  a 
great  fire  emitting  heat  due  to  chemical  action  ;  and  it 
has  been  surmised  that  "  the  sun's  heat  is  probably  due 
to  friction  in  his  atmosphere  between  his  surface  and  a 
vortex  of  vapours,  fed  externally  by  the  evaporation  of 
small  planets  in  a  surrounding  region  of  very  high  tem- 
perature, which  they  reach  by  gradual  spiral  paths,  and 
falling  inwards,  in  torrents  of  meteoric  rain,  form  the 
luminous  atmosphere  of  intense  resistance  to  his  sur- 
face."* 

*  See  Professor  W.  Thomson's  Paper  In  Trans,  of  Fvoyal  Society  of  Edin.,  1854,  and 
abstract  of  same  in  Edin.  New  Phil.  Jour.,  January,  1855. 


412  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    OKDER 

Fourthly,  Indications  of  some  other  Universally  Ope- 
rative Agents.  Possibly  all  those  wo  have  been  consi- 
dering and  those  we  are  now  to  contemplate,  may  be 
modifications  of  one  and  the  same  force :  this  is  a 
favourite  idea  of  not  a  few  living  men  of  the  very  highest, 
scientific  eminence,  and  it  may  be  granted  without  affect- 
ing our  argument.  For  if  there  be  only  one  force,  what 
a  variety  of  adjustments  must  have  been  made  in  order 
to  its  producing  such  a  number  of  results,  so  different 
from  each  other  and  so  beneficent  in  their  character  ! 
Our  conclusion  follows  equally  from  the  admission  of  a 
number  of  forces  suited  to  each  other,  or  one  force  with 
an  infinite  number  of  adjusted  collocations.  But  at  the 
present  stage  of  science,  we  are  not  entitled  to  say  that 
all  the  forces  of  nature  are  one  ;  they  present  themselves 
to  us  as  diverse,  but  all  correlated,  and  capable  of  excit- 
ing each  other.  Meanwhile,  we  must  look  at  them  in  the 
forms  which  they  assume,  and  besides  those  which  have 
been  already  before  us,  there  are  the  magnetic  and  chemi- 
cal powers. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  there  are  periodical  varia- 
tions in  the  magnetic  forces  on  the  earth  depending  on 
the  solar  day  and  the  time  of  the  year,  and  pointing  to 
the  sun  as  the  cause.  It  has  also  been  discovered  that 
there  is  a  variation  in  the  direction  of  the  magnetic 
needle,  going  through  all  its  changes  exactly  in  each 
lunar  day.  cc  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  some  of  tbe 
curious  phenomena  of  magnetism,  which  have  hitherto 
been  regarded  as  strictly  terrestrial,  are  really  due  to 
solar  and  lunar  as  much  as  terrestrial  magnetism.*" 
It  has  also  been  supposed  that  there  is  a  connexion  be- 
tween the  period  of  the  recurrence  of  the  sun's  spots  and 

*  President's  (Mr,  HopkiDs)  Address  to  British  Association  1853. 


TO    THE    HARMONY    OF    COSMICAL    BODIES.  413 

the  period  of  the  variation  of  magnetism  on  the  earth's 
surface.  The  maxima  of  the  sun's  spots  occurred  m 
1828,  1837,  and  1848,  the  minima  in  1833  and  1843; 
and  it  has  been  shown  that  the  cycle  of  the  variations  in 
the  earth's  magnetic  intensity  is  also  about  ten  years,  and 
bears  a  relation  to  the  other  cycle.  These  discoveries  open 
up  curious  glimpses  of  relations  between  things  on  the 
earth  and  things  in  the  sky,  such  as  men  have  not  been 
inclined  to  believe  in  since  science  expelled  astrology  from 
human  credence. 

We  know  further,  that  in  the  sun's  rays  there  is  a  che- 
mical (actinic)  as  well  as  a  luminiferous  and  calorific 
potency.  These  principles  have  each,  in  its  own  way,  an 
influence  on  the  germination  and  growth  of  the  plant; 
and  it  is  affirmed  that  all  are.  in  harmony  with  the 
seasons,  and  that  each  is  strongest  relatively  at  the  time 
when  most  needed  for  the  function  which  it  has  to  dis- 
charge in  fostering  the  vegetable.  Actinism  is  needed 
in  order  to  the  healthful  germination  of  seed  ;  light  is 
required  to  excite  the  plant  to  decompose  carbonic  acid; 
and  caloric  is  necessary  in  order  to  develop  and  carry 
out  the  reproductive  energies  of  the  plant.  "  It  is  now," 
says  Mr.  Hunt,  "  an  ascertained  fact,  that  the  solar 
beam,  during  spring,  contains  a  large  amount  of  actinic 
principle,  so  necessary  at  that  season  for  the  germination 
of  seeds  and  the  development  of  buds.  In  summer,  there 
is  a  large  proportion  of  the  light-giving  principle  neces- 
sary to  the  formation  of  the  wooden  parts  of  plants.  As 
autumn  approaches,  the  calorific  or  heat-giving  principles 
of  the  solar  rays  increase.  This  is  necessary  to  harden 
the  woody  parts  and  prepare  them  for  the  approach  of 
winter.  It  is  thus  that  the  proportions  are  changed  with 
the  seasons,  and  thus  that  vegetation  is  germinated, 
grown,  and  hardened  by  them,     We  have  these  state- 


414  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    ORDER 

ments  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Hunt.*  It  is  affirmed 
that  every  flower  has  its  own  peculiar  power  in  reference 
to  heat,  and  that  different  plants  take  the  different  tem- 
peratures needed  in  order  to  their  health,  by  reason  of 
their  different  colours,  which  also  determine  the  relative 
amount  of  dew  deposited  on  the  leaves. 

Fifthly,  Traces  of  an  all-pervading  Ether.  The  ex- 
istence of  such  a  medium  between  the  various  cosmical 
bodies  had  long  been  suspected,  and  has  now  been  estab- 
lished to  the  satisfaction  of  most  scientific  men.  The 
resistance  offered  by  it  to  the  comet  of  Encke  is  the 
cause,  it  is  believed,  of  the  acceleration  of  the  period 
of  the  revolution  of  that  body,  by  causing  it  to  fall 
nearer  the  sun.  The  acceleration  is  appreciable,  being 
about  two  days  in  each  revolution,  which  occupies  about 
3T3o  years,  and  it  has  been  observed  during  a  number  of 
revolutions.  But  we  know  too  little  of  the  nature  of 
this  ether  to  admit  of  its  being  turned  to  much  use  in 
such  a  treatise.  It  may  be  legitimately  argued,  however, 
that  if  light — according  to  the  prevailing  theory  in  the 
present  day — consists  in  vibrations  in  an  ether,  we  must 
call  in  an  important  class  of  adaptations,  the  absence  or 
alteration  of  any  one  of  which  would  disturb  the  economy 
of  the  universe.  The  three  rays,  the  violet,  the  yellow, 
and  the  red,  must  each  have  ether  waves  of  different 
lengths  ;  and  they  must  each  make  a  different  number 
of  vibrations  in  a  second,  upon  which  circumstance  the 
character  of  the  coloured  rays  depends.  The  number  of 
vibrations  in  the  second  is  approximately  as  folows  : — 

Violet,  699  billions.       Yellow,  535  billions.       Red,  477  billions. 

It  needs  no  lengthened  statement  to  show  how  liable 

*  Report  on  Chemical  Action  of  Solav  Radiations,  British  Association,  1850.  We  are 
by  no  means  at  the  bottom  of  this  subject.  Farther  investigation  is  evidently  needed 
In  order  to  put  us  in  possession  of  the  exact  facts,  and  we  are  not  yet  within  sight  of  the 
rationale  of  them. 


TO    THE    HARMONY    OF    C03MICAL    BODIES.  415 

such  a  complicated  system  is  to  go  wrong,  and  how  nice 
must  be  the  continued  adjustments  so  as  to  admit  of  oui 
distinguishing  stars  and  the  colours  of  stars,  so  distant 
that  light  must  require  thousands  of  years  to  travel 
from  them  to  us.  For,  on  looking  abroad  on  the  face  of 
the  sky,  we  cannot  be  said  to  be  looking  on  the  stars  as 
they  now  exist,  but  on  these  stars  as  they  existed  many 
years,  it  may  be  thousands  of  years  ago.  We  have  per- 
fect confidence  that  there  is  no  deception  in  all  this,  but 
in  order  to  our  trust  being  well  founded,  it  is  needful  to 
suppose,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  the  prevailing  scientific 
theory,  that  the  ether  has  retained  its  laws  and  colloca- 
tions through  both  immeasurable  ages  of  time  and  regions 
of  space. 

Before  closing  this  subject,  we  must  refer  to  a  most 
important  class  of  facts,  and  speculations  founded  upon 
them,  which  have  come  into  great  prominence  in  the 
present  day.  The  calculations  of  Lagrange  and  Laplace 
in  regard  to  the  stability  of  the  solar  system,  (see  p.  390,) 
proceeded  on  assumptions  which  later  science  has  shewn 
not  to  be  warranted.  In  particular,  they  pre-supposed 
that  the  planets  moved  in  vacuo.  But  the  prevalent 
opinion  at  this  stage  of  advancing  science  is,  that  they 
move  in  an  ether,  the  effect  of  which  must  be  to  lessen 
the  velocity,  and  bring  all  the  planetary  bodies  nearer 
and  nearer  the  sun.  The  influence  thus  exercised  in 
a  brief  period  must  be  very  small,  but  acting  constantly, 
as  it  does,  it  must,  in  the  course  of  ages,  produce  appre- 
ciable effects,  and  tend  to  break  up  the  solar  system.* 

Other  facts,  not   reconcilable  with   absolute  stability 

*  The  demonstration  of  the  French  mathematicians  proceeded  on  the  further  assump- 
tion that  the  planets  are  solid  throughout,  and  not  fluid.  But  our  earth,  whatever  may 
be  the  case  with  the  other  planets,  has  the  largest  portion  of  its  surface  covered  with 
waters  ever  agitated  by  tides  produced  by  the  gravitation  of  the  moon.  Now,  it  is  well 
known  that  when  there  is  water  in  a  boat,  the  motion  of  the  boat  is  retarded  by  the  agi* 


416  SPECIAL    ADJUSTMENTS    NEEDED    IN    ORDER 

have  come  into  view.  Sir  J.  Herschel  says  that  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Milky  Way  affords  proof  that  it  can- 
not last  for  ever,  and  equally  bears  witness  that  its  past 
duration  cannot  be  admitted  to  be  infinite. 

Certain  very  important  conclusions,  tending  in  the 
same  direction,  have  been  established  on  following  out 
the  modern  doctrine  in  regard  to  heat.  Heat  is  now 
regarded  as,  if  not  identical  with  mechanical  power, 
at  least  the  means  of  producing  it.  As  has  been  already 
stated,  we  are  at  present  taking  advantage  of  the  mecha- 
nical energy  excited  on  our  earth,  and  laid  up  in  store 
for  us  during  the  age  of  the  coal  formation.  As  this 
dynamical  agency  is  being  dissipated  and  wasted,  we 
have  here  another  disturbing  element.  The  following 
are  the  conclusions  drawn  by  Professor  W.  Thomson, 
who  has  deeply  studied  this  subject : — "  I.  There  is  at 
present  in  the  material  world  a  universal  tendency  to  the 
dissipations  of  mechanical  energy.  II.  Any  restoration 
of  mechanical  energy  without  more  than  equivalent  dis- 
sipation is  impossible  in  inanimate  material  processes, 
and  is  probably  never  affected  by  means  of  organized 
matter,  either  endowed  with  vegetable  life,  or  subjected 
to  the  will  of  an  animated  creature.  III.  Within  a 
finite  period  of  time  past,  the  earth  must  have  been,  and 
within  a  finite  period  of  time  to  come,  the  earth  must 
again  be  unfit  for  the  habitation  of  man,  as  at  present 
constituted,  unless  operations  have  been,  or  are  to  'be, 
performed  which  are  impossible  under  the  laws  to  which 
the  known  operations  going  on  at  present  in  the  mate- 
rial world  are  subject."'"' 

All  this  does  not  in  the  least  detract  from  the  skill 

tation  of  the  water ;  and  on  the  same  principle  (a  scientific  friend  assures  us)  the  tidal 
agitation  of  the  waters  on  the  surfac.e  of  the  earth  exercises  a  disturbing  influence  on  tho 
movements  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit.     Can  any  counteracting  power  be  detected  ? 
t  Transactions  of  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  1S52. 


TO    TIIE    HARMONY    OF    COSMICAL    BODIES.  417 

displayed  in  those  wonderful  adjustments  and  counter- 
poises which  were  brought  to  light  by  the  analytic  dex- 
terity of  the  French  mathematicians  ;  but  it  brings  into 
view  an  overlooked  set  of  agencies  which  must,  in  the 
course  of  ages,  change  the  present  system  of  things, 
provided  always  that  they  are  not  corrected  by  some 
well-adjusted  counterbalancing  arrangements.  Professor 
Thompson  says  that  there  is  not  in  nature  any  counter- 
acting agency.  Without  dogmatizing  on  so  difficult  a 
subject,  it  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  science  at  its 
present  stage  cannot  point  out  any  means  of  restoring 
the  lost  energy.  Even  though  it  could  be  restored  by 
natural  means  beyond  the  ken  of  man,  it  must  be  in  con- 
sequence of  a  wonderful  adjustment  planned  by  intelli- 
gence. In  either  case,  we  are  made  to  feel  the  depen- 
dence of  all  physical  nature  upon  a  higher  power  either 
to  keep  things  in  their  present  stable  condition,  or,  in 
the  event  of  some  great  change,  such  as  seems  not  ob- 
scurely pointed  to  in  the  Word  of  God,  to  render  that 
change  beneficent.  Doubtless  the  world  is  stable,  (for 
"  the  earth  abideth  forever,")  but  it  is  by  means  of  forces, 
each  of  which  would  make  it  very  unstable,  and  which 
are  made  to  produce  stability  by  counteracting  each 
other,  so  that  there  is  a  truth  in  that  part  of  the  theogony 
of  Hesiod  which  represents-  Eros,  the  healer  of  divisions, 
as  the  world-forming  principle.  All  this  balancing  is 
fitted,  we  should  say  intended,  to  carry  up  our  minds  to 
Him  who  holds  the  balances  in  His  hands.  Our  confi- 
dence in  the  permanence  of  things  must  be  made  to  rest, 
after  all,  on  the  purposes  of  a  G-od  who  has  ordained  all 
things  from  the  beginning,  and  who,  when  He  changes 
any  existing  state  of  things,  changes  them  in  the  deve- 
lopment of  one  and  the  same  mighty  plan. 

We  are  now  in  circumstances  to  estimate  the  amount 


418  SPECIAL    ADAPTATIONS   IN    ORDER 

of  truth  in  a  statement  of  Paley,  which  has  been  quoted 
with  approbation  by  others, — "  My  opinion  of  astronomy/ 
says  he,  "  has  all  along  been  that  it  is  not  the  best 
medium  through  which  to  prove  the  agency  of  an  intelli- 
gent Creator  ;  but  that  this  being  proved,  it  shews  beyond 
all  other  sciences  the  magnificence  of  his  operations/'* 
Now,  it  may  be  admitted  that  astronomy  does  not  dis- 
play so  many  cases  of  special  adjustment  as  the  animal 
kingdom,  so  beautifully  illustrated  by  Paley.  The  reasons 
are  not  difficult  to  find  :  First,  we  do  not  know  so  much  of 
celestial  bodies  as  of  objects  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  ; 
we  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  internal  structure  of  the 
planets  ;  we  know  absolutely  nothing  of  the  composition 
of  the  sun  or  stars  ;  we  do  not  know  for  certain  whether 
any  one  of  them,  is  inhabited  ;  and  so  we  cannot  expect 
to  be  able  to  unfold  such  adaptations  among  them  as 
among  the  objects  with  which  we  are  familiar.  Then, 
secondly,  and  more  especially,  there  is  no  necessity  for 
such  special  adaptation  in  the  case  of  inorganic  bodies  as 
is  required  for  living  bodies,  and  more  particularly  for 
animals  requiring  provision  to  be  made  not  only  for  their 
existence,  but  for  their  comfort.  It  will  be  found  as  a 
general  rule,  that  we  discover  the  clearest  examples  of 
special  adaptation  where  our  knowledge  is  most  extensive 
and  minute,  and  that  they  are  more  abundant  where  we 
see  they  are  most  required,  in  the  frames  of  organized 
existences,  especially  of  animated  beings  capable  of  plea- 
sure and  pain,  and  the  most  abundant  of  all  in  the 
frame  of  man,  the  being  who  needs  the  greatest  number 
and  complication  of  organs  to  enable  him  to  fufill  his 
high  destiny.  But  it  is  satisfactory  to  observe,  that  we  are 
able  to  detect  a  number  of  striking  examples  of  special 
adaptation  among  the  celestial  bodies  in  general,  and  the 

*  Paley's  Natural  Theology,  chap.  xxii. 


TO    THE    HARMONY    OF    COSMICAL    BODIES.  419 

planetary  bodies  in  particular,  and  it  is  an  instructive  cir- 
cumstance, that  in  consequence  of  the  advance  of  know- 
ledge, we  are  able  to  unfold  a  greater  number  than  could 
be  developed  in  the  days  of  Paley.  There  is  no  just 
ground,  then,  for  the  scoffing  remark  of  the  haughty 
and  eccentric  Frenchman,  (who  denies  that  he  is  an 
atheist,  seeing  that  he  adores  himself  and  has  set  up  a 
formal  worship  of  his  system,)  that  the  heavens  cannot 
now  be  appealed  to  as  a  proof  of  the  existence  of  Deity, 
or  for  the  inference  drawn  by  him,  that  the  time  will 
speedily  arrive  when  organized  objects  will  be  in  the 
same  condition  ;  for  while,  for  the  reasons  stated,  animals 
and  plants  must  ever  furnish  the  most  striking  examples 
of  design,  it  is  still  true  that  "  the  heavens  declaee 

THE  GLORY  OF  GOD,  AND  THE  FIRMAMENT  SHOWETH  HIS 
HANDIWORK." 


BOOK  THIRD. 

THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  FACTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  COMBINED  ORDER  AND  ADAPTATION. 

We  are  now  to  estimate  the  force  of  the  influence  of 
two  streams,  which  we  have  hitherto  been  contemplating 
as  flowing  in  parallel  channels. 

The  principle  of  Order  has  been  scientifically  ex- 
pounded only  in  modern  times,  and  in  regard  to  the 
animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  only  within  these  few 
years.  But  it  existed  from  the  creation  of  the  world, 
and  had  been  noticed  in  a  general  way  since  the  creation 
of  intelligent  being.  Science  in  its  latest  advances  is 
simply  coming  up  to,  and  explaining,  the  spontaneous 
suggestions  of  human  thought,  which  as  it  muses  upon 
the  universe  is  at  once  struck  with  the  model  forms  and 
correspondences  which  everywhere  prevail.  The  late 
discoveries  in  regard  to  homotypes,  homologies,  and  we 
may  add  homceophytes,  or  parallel  developments  in  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  structures,  is  but  the  scientific  exposi- 
tion of  what  all  along  impressed  intelligent  observers, 
without  their  being  able  to  give  an  account  of  it.     Nor 


COMBINED    ORDER    AND    ADAPTATION.  421 

are  these  remarkable  facts  of  an  isolated  or  exceptionable 
character  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  merely  striking  ex- 
amples of  what  is  universal,  and  they  have  their  homo- 
types,  analogues,  homologues,  and  parallels,  in  every 
department  of  nature. 

The  principle  of  Special  Adaptation,  or  that  of  par- 
ticular conformity  to  the  position  of  the  object  and  func- 
tion of  the  organ,  has  also  been  noticed  all  along  by  minds 
addicted  to  reflection.  Socrates  is  represented  by  Xeno- 
phon  as  delighting  to  dwell  upon  it.  So  strong,  indeed, 
was  this  tendency  in  the  ancient  world,  and  in  the  middle 
ages,  that  Bacon  felt  himself  called  on  to  remove  the 
inquiry  from  physical  science,  where  it  hindered  the  dis- 
covery of  physical  agents,  to  metaphysics,  where  it  might 
have  a  legitimate  scope.  Bacon  was  right  in  saying,  that 
the  propensity  to  discover  final  cause  had  sometimes 
come  in  the  way  of  the  discovery  of  physical  cause  ;  but 
he  is  altogether  wrong  in  affirming  that  it  is.  barren  of 
results  in  scientific  inquiry,  for  in  certain  departments 
of  natural  science,  such  as  physiology  and  comparative 
anatomy,  it  is  a  most  powerful  instrument  of  discovery, 
and  such  eminent  men  as  Cuvier  and  Sir  Charles  Bell 
delight  to  inform  us  that  they  have  proceeded  on  the 
principle  of  final  cause  in  all  their  researches. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the  beauty  and  the  ap- 
propriateness of  both  these  principles. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  mind  discerns  the  need  and  ap- 
preciates the  propriety  of  the  principle  of  Order.  Without 
some  such  governing  principle,  nature  would  be  incom- 
prehensible by  human  intelligence,  and  this  because  of 
the  very  number  and  multiplicity  of  the  objects  of  which  it 
presents,  each  eager  to  catch  our  notice  ;  and  the  mind 
in  trying  to  apprehend  them  would  have  felt  itself  lost, 
as  in  a  forest  through  which  there  is  no  pathway,  or  as 


422  THE   ARGUMENT   FROM 

in  a  vast  storehouse,  where  the  seeds  of  every  species  of 
plant  on  the  earth's  surface,  are  mixed  in  hopeless  con- 
fusion. By  what  means  is  it  that  man  is  enabled  to  ar- 
range into  groups  the  objects  by  which  he  is  surrounded, 
and  thus  acquire  a  scientific  knowledge  of  them,  and  turn 
them  to  practical  purposes  ?  Plainly,  by  reason  of  the 
circumstance  that  there  are  numberless  points  of  resem- 
blance and  correspondence  between  them.  Scientific 
men  have  so  long  been  familiar  with  this  process  that 
they  are  not  impressed  by  it  as  they  ought,  and  seldom 
do  they  inquire  into  the  ground  on  which  it  proceeds. 
It  is  only  when  something  new,  such  as  the  discovery  of 
homologies  in  the  animal  kingdom,  comes  to  light,  that 
they  are  led  to  reflect  on  what  has  been  too  common  to  be 
specially  noticed.  But  if  they  but  seriously  reflect  on 
the  subject,  they  will  find  that  it  is  because  of  the  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  points  of  resemblance  and  corre- 
spondence that  man  is  enabled  to  grasp  the  infinity  of 
objects  which  fall  under  his  view,  into  classes  and  sub- 
classes, which  can  be  comprehended  by  the  intellect,  and 
treasured  up  in  the  memory. 

No  doubt  the  mind  has  in  itself  a  power  of  forming 
classes  altogether  independent  of  any  special  arrange- 
ment in  order  to  aid  it ;  but  such  groupings,  though  they 
may  at  times  help  the  memory,  are  of  no  intellectual  or 
scientific  value.  But  there  are  means  in  nature  of  guid- 
ing the  mind  to  the  formation  of  classes  which  have 
a  deep  and  far-reaching  significance.  It  is  true,  in  an 
important  sense,  that  classes  are  already  formed  for  us 
in  nature.  Man  will  find  it  expedient,  in  all  cases, 
to  attend  to  these  arrangements  made  to  his  hand,  and 
he  must  attend  to  them,  provided  he  represent  his 
classification  as  a  natural  one.  It  may  illustrate  our 
general  subject  to  show  what  are  the  distinctive  marks 


COMBINED    ORDER    AND    ADAPTATION.  423 

of  natural  classes,  that  is,  of  classes  having  the  sanction 
of  nature. 

And  first,  we  may  take  a  classification  which  is  not 
of  this  description.  It  is  conceivable  that  a  person 
might  arrange  all  animated  beings  according  to  their 
size.  He  might  put  all  animals  of  a  certain  height  in  one 
class,  and  all  animals  below  that  in  another  class.  Every 
one  sees  how  arbitrary,  in  short,  how  contrary  to  nature, 
such  a  distribution  would  be.  It  would  often  separate 
animals  belonging  to  the  very  same  species,  while  it  would 
put  in  one  confused  group  bird  and  fish,  mammal  and 
insect.  And  why,  it  may  be  asked,  does  the  naturalist  at 
once  reject  such  a  classification  ?  Perhaps  it  is  answered, 
because  he  is  seeking  a  natural  arrangement.  But  this 
answer,  though  correct  so  far  as  it  goes,  does  not  go  down 
to  the  depths  of  the  subject,  for  we  immediately  ask,  Is 
not  the  distinction  of  size  a  natural  one  ?  He  who  would 
really  sound  the  depths  of  this  subject,  and  not  skim  over 
it,  must  be  prepared  to  state  what  is  the  difference  between 
an  artificial  and  a  natural  classification. 

All  natural  classes  will  be  found  to  have  not  merely 
one,  but  an  aggregate  of  common  attributes.  It  follows 
that,  when  objects  are  classified  according  to  a  natural 
arrangement,  the  possession  of  any  one  characteristic  is  a 
mark  of  a  great  many  others.  Thus,  when  an  animal  is 
described  as  a  reptile,  we  know  that  its  blood  is  cold,  that 
its  heart  consists  of  three  cavities,  and  that  its  young  are 
produced  from  eggs  ;  and  when  we  hear  an  animal  called 
by  the  name  of  mammal,  we  know  not  only  that  it 
suckles  its  young,  but  that  it  breathes  by  lungs,  that  its 
blood  is  warm,  and  that  its  heart  consists  of  four  com- 
partments. In  short,  when  we  have  fixed  on  a  truly 
natural  arrangement,  the  presence  of  any  one  character- 
istic becomes  a  sign  of  others,  commonly  of  very  many 


424  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

others,  at  times  of  an  inexhaustible  number  of  others. 
The  co-existence  of  these  characteristics  in  one  object,  and 
their  invariable  co-existence  in  all  objects  possessing  any- 
one of  them,  is  a  clear  evidence  that  such  an  arrangement 
has  b*een  purposely  made.  A  class  with  such  an  aggregate 
of  qualities  as  its  ground,  is  said  to  be  one  of  "  Kinds." 
There  are  some  valuable  remarks  on  this  subject  in  the 
Logic  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill.  "  There  are  some  classes,  the 
things  contained  in  which  differ  from  other  things  only 
in  certain  particulars,  which  can  be  numbered,  while 
others  differ  in  more  than  can  be  numbered,  more  than 
even  we  need  ever  expect  to  know.  Some  classes  have 
little  or  nothing  in  common  to  characterize  them  by, 
except  precisely  what  is  connoted  by  the  name  ;  white 
things,  for  example,  are  not  distinguished  by  any  com- 
mon properties  except  whiteness,  or  if  they  are  it  is  only 
by  such  as  are  in  some  way  dependent  upon  or  connected 
with  whiteness.  But  a  hundred  generations  have  not 
exhausted  the  common  properties  of  animals  or  of  plants, 
or  of  sulphur,  or  of  phosphorus  ;  nor  do  we  suppose  them 
to  be  exhausted,  but  proceed  to  new  observations  and 
experiments,  in  the  full  confidence  of  discovering  new 
properties,  which  were  by  no  means  implied  in  those  we 
previously  knew.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  pro- 
perties on  which  we  ground  our  classes  sometimes 
exhaust  all  that  the  class  has  in  common,  or  contain  it 
all  by  some  mode  of  implication  ;  but  in  other  instances, 
we  make  a  selection  of  a  few  properties  from  among  not 
only  a  greater  number,  but  a  number  inexhaustible  by 
us,  and  to  which,  as  wc  know  no  bounds,  they  may,  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned,  be  regarded  as  infinite."* 

We  now  see  wherein  lies  the  essential  distinction  be- 
tween an  artificial  and  a  natural  class,  and  the  superiority 

*  Mill's  Logic,  B.  1.  c.  vii.  4 


COMBINED    ORDER    AND    ADAPTATION.  425 

of  the  one  to  the  other.  In  an  artificial  arrangement,  we 
seize  on  a  quality — not  arbitrarily,  it  may  be,  but  still  for 
mere  convenience'  sake — and  our  arrangement  does  not 
yield  us  any  farther  information  on  the  subject.  In  a 
natural  classification,  on  the  other  hand,  we  fix  on  qua- 
lities which  are  invariably  accompanied  with  certain 
other  qualities,  and  which  are,  therefore,  signs  of  them. 
All  that  an  artificial  class  can  do  is  to  aid  the  memory, 
by  having  the  innumerable  objects  put  into  a  convenient 
number  of  groups.  Even  for  this  purpose  a  natural 
arrangement,  if  we  can  seize  it,  will  be  vastly  more  useful 
than  an  artificial  one,  as  it  will  be  found,  in  fact,  that  no 
artificial  arrangement  can  embrace  all  the  facts,  and 
enable  us  to  carry  them  about  with  us  in  convenient 
groups.  But  a  natural  classification  does  more  than 
help  the  memory,  it  imparts  positive  knowledge,  inas- 
much as  one  property  is  a  sign  of  the  presence  of  a  vast 
number  of  others.  The  most  fundamental  of  all  groups 
in  Natural  History,  that  of  species,  is  always  one  of  Kinds. 
It  is  formed  on  the  principle  that  all  the  animals  in- 
cluded in  it  might  have  proceeded  from  a  common  pa- 
rentage ;  but  all  animals  belonging  to  the  same  species 
are  found  to  have  a  great  many  other  points  of  resem- 
blance besides  their  belonging  to  one  stock.  The  same 
is  true,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  of  all  other  natural 
groups,  such  as  genera,  orders,  and  kingdoms.  In  all 
such  natural  classes,  the  presence  of  some  one  attribute  is 
a  means  of  informing  us  of  the  presence  of  others.  Thus, 
the  power  of  speech  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  huma- 
nity ;  but  there  are  many  others,  so  many  others,  that 
physical  and  metaphysical  science  cannot  be  said  to  have 
fully  exhausted  them,  and  the  presence  of  the  power  of 
speech  is  a  sign  of  all  these  others.  A  traveller  has  lost 
himself  in  a  deep  forest,  amidst  wild  birds  and  beasts, 


426  THE   ARGUMENT  FROM 

whose  cries  all  raise  within  him  feelings  of  alarm  ;  sud- 
denly he  hears  a  human  voice,  and  that  sound  at  once 
announces  that  there  is  intelligence  at  hand,  and  pro- 
bably also  a  compassionate  heart,  and  the  power  and 
disposition  to  aid  him.  All  the  marks  of  a  natural  class 
are  significent,  in  the  same  way,  of  an  indefinite  number 
of  other  attributes. 

This  invariable  collocation  of  characteristic  qualities 
in  certain  objects,  so  that  the  one  is  a  sign  of  all  the  rest, 
is  a  clear  proof  that  classes  do  exist  in  nature — that  is, 
that  objects  are  gathered  into  classes.  This,  we  doubt 
not,  was  at  least  one  of  the  truths  which  led  to  the  mystic 
doctrine  of  Plato  about  Ideas  or  Types,  above  individual 
things  and  prior  to  individual  things,  and  in  mediaeval 
times  to  the  doctrine  of  Realism,  according  to  which, 
universals  or  classes  have  an  existence  as  well  as  indivi- 
duals. There  is  a  great  truth  at  the  basis  of  these 
theories,  now  exploded,  but  entertained  in  former  ages  by 
some  of  the  deepest  thinkers  which  our  world  has  pro- 
duced. This  truth  was  not  correctly  seized,  was  very 
imperfectly,  indeed,  often  very  erroneously  represented, 
but  still  it  is  deep  in  the  constitution  of  things.  All 
natural  objects,  and  especially  all  organic  objects,  are 
fashioned  according  to  type,  and  operate  according  to 
unchanging  laws.  The  individuals  all  die,  shewing  how 
insignificant  they  are,  whereas  the  genus  and  species 
survive.  The  flowers  of  last  summer  are  all  faded,  but 
in  the  coming  summer,  other  flowers  will  spring  forth  to 
continue  the  same  form.  Amidst  the  flux  and  reflux  of 
all  individual  existences,  the  laws  which  they  obey  are 
permanent.  In  particular,  classes,  genera,  and  species, 
have  as  certain  an  existence  in  nature  as  the  objects 
which  are  classified. 

There  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun.     The  modern 


COMBINED   ORDER   AND   ADAPTATION.  427 

doctrine  of  organic  correspondences  is  but  the  distinct 
articulation  of  what  thinking  minds  have  ever  felt — but 
the  scientific  interpretation  of  the  unconscious  musings 
of  deeper  thinkers,  as  they  have  been  gazing  on  the  cryp- 
tic symbols  of  nature,  ever  since  the  time  when  inward 
reflection  was  awakened  by  outward  objects.  Nay,  it  is, 
after  all,  but  the  extension,  into  a  new  field,  of  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  scientific  classification  has  all  along  been 
resting.  The  facts  on  which  the  new  doctrines  are 
founded  are  the  homotypes  and  homologues  of  the  facts 
on  which  ordinary  classification  proceeds.  The  classifi- 
cation into  genera  and  species  proceeds  on  corresponden- 
ces among  a  vast  number  of  individuals.  The  doctrine 
of  homotypes  takes  its  rise  from  the  correspondences  in 
many  parts  of  the  same  individual.  Homologues  are 
corresponding  members  in  different  individuals.  We 
may  add  that  homceophytes  are  corresponding  stages  in 
the  development  of  different  organic  kingdoms. 

So'  much,  then,  in  regard  to  the  fitness  of  the  one 
principle — it  enables  mankind  to  make  a  practical  and 
scientific  use  of  the  objects  by  which  they  are  surrounded; 
and,  as  some  one  remarks,  nature  was  made  to  be  enjoyed 
by  brutes,  but  to  be  contemplated  by  man.  It  is  still 
more  necessary  that  the  other  principle,  that  of  Special 
Adaptation,  be  attended  to  ;  for  if  the  comprehensibility 
and  beauty  of  the  universe  depend  on  the  one,  the  very 
existence  of  the  objects  in  it,  and  especially  of  animated 
beings,  depends  on  the  other. 

And  here  it  may  be  important  to  remark,  that  the 
principle  of  special  adaptation  assumes  two  distinct 
forms.  So  far  as  the  efficient  powers,  the  dynamical  ener- 
gies, the  active  properties  of  matter,  are  concerned,  the 
adaptation  consists  in  their  adjustment  so  as  to  produce 
a  general  law,  or  it  may  be  also  an  individual  effect  of  a 


428  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

beneficent  character.  It  is  thus  that  the  centripetal  and 
centrifugal  forces  are  adjusted  to  yield  the  harmonies  of 
the  planetary  system  ;  thus  that  the  relation  between 
the  earth's  orbit  and  the  sun  are  arranged  to  yield  the 
seasons  of  the  year.  In  organic  bodies,  again,  where  the 
law  is  one  of  type  or  structure,  we  find  the  special  adap- 
tation taking  a  somewhat  different  form.  We  now  meet 
not  with  an  adjustment  of  forces  to  produce  a  law,  but  a 
modification  of  a  general  type,  or  a  departure  from  it  on 
one  side  or  other,  and  this  obviously  to  enable  the  part 
to  execute  its  office.  Under  the  first  of  these  forms  the 
adaptation  is  necessary  in  order  to  the  very  existence 
of  general  order  ;  under  the  second,  it  bends  the  general 
order  to  the  accomplishment  of  sj)ecial  ends. 

It  is  in  this  second  form  that  adaptation  appears  in 
the  structure  of  animated  beings.  Not  only  the  comfort 
of  the  animal,  but  its  very  continuance  upon  the  earth, 
depends  on  every  organ  being  made  to  serve  its  special 
function.  And  here  it  is  satisfactory  to  find,  that  while 
attention  is  paid  both  to  order  and  special  end,  the  most 
uniform  regard  is  had  to  the  latter.  There  are  cases,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  which  the  general  plan,  if  not  sacrificed, 
is  at  least  kept  in  abeyance,  so  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
detect  it.  It  is  of  all  pretensions  the  most  absurd,  in 
certain  naturalists  to  profess  to  be  able  to  see  the  general 
homologies,  which  are  often  very  obscure,  and  yet  regret 
that  they  can  never  discover  special  modifications  to  serve 
a  given  end,  which  are  often  so  very  clear.  It  is  satis- 
factory to  find  that  the  wellbeing  of  the  plant  and  the 
happiness  of  the  animal  are  never  sacrificed  in  following 
out  the  typical  form.  The  general  often  gives  way  to 
the  special,  but  the  special  never  gives  way  to  the  gene- 
ral. It  cannot  be  said  of  any  animated  being,  that  its 
individual  comfort  has  been  sacrificed  in   the  attention 


COMBINED    ORDER   AND    ADAPTATION.  429 

paid  to  some  general  law  or  model  shape.  It  is  a  cir- 
cumstance worthy  of  being  noted,  that  the  typical  form 
is  most  clearly  exhibited  in  the  lower  animals,  whose 
wants  and  functions  are  fewest  ;  and  that  the  principle  of 
teleology  is  carried  out  to  the  farthest  extent  in  animals 
higher  in  the  scale,  whose  organism  is  the  most  compli- 
cated, and  has  the  most  numerous  and  varied  functions 
to  perform  ;  and,  farthest  of  all,  in  man,  whose  frame  is 
so  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made  to  enable  it  to  become 
the  fit  instrument  of  that  spiritual  nature  to  which  it  is 
united. 

When  we  take  an  enlarged  view  of  these  two  princi- 
ples, we  shall  find  that  they  are  not  inconsistent  with 
each  other,  but  rather  that  they  depend  on  each  other. 
There  is  an  adaptation  necessary  in  order  to  those  regu- 
lar successions  of  events  and  model  forms  which  come  so 
frequently  before  us.  The  regular  flow  or  periodic  re- 
currence of  such  phenomena  as  the  tides,  the  seasons,  is 
the  result  of  arrangements  many  and  varied.  The  forms 
assumed  by  plants  and  animals  is  evidently  the  contem- 
plated issue  of  a  multitude  of  forces  made  to  combine  to 
this  end.*     On  the  other  hand,  the  general  order,  in  some 

*  When  the  action  of  the  combination  of  powers  necessary  to  the  development  of  an 
organ  is  interfered  with,  we  have  a  Monster.  In  monstrosities  the  principle  of  order  is 
not  accommodated  to  the  usual  special  end.  They  are  always  comparatively  few  in 
number — in  short,  the  exception.  But  we  are  not  to  conclude  that  they  are  faihires, 
or  that  they  have  no  end  to  serve.  A  world  in  which  they  were  the  rule  would  certainly 
be  a  failure;  but,  as  exceptions,  they  are  as  instructive  as  the  rule.  They  help  man  to 
discover  the  nature  of  those  agencies  which  combine  to  form  typical  organs,  and  they 
shew  how  derangements  which,  when  few,  work  no  evil,  would  have  been  fearful  if 
they  had  been  frequent.  Teratology,  which  treats  of  natural  monstrosities,  has  now  a 
place  among  acknowledged  sciences.  Single  monsters  are  produced  by  arrest  of  develop- 
ment; double  by  the  union  of  homologous  parts,  as  of  veins  to  veins,  and  arteries  to 
arteries.  The  aberrations  of  monstrosity  do  not  exceed  certain  limits.  They  have  their 
distinctive  characters,  and  long  ago  there  were  noticed  five  orders,  twenty-three  fami- 
lies, and  eighty-three  genera.  So  far  as  these  monstrosities  do  not  produce  pain,  they 
are  not  evils  any  more  than  an  irregularly-formed  crystal  is.  So  far  as  they  are  the 
means  of  entailing  suffering  and  humiliation  among  mankind,  thev  carry  us  into  the 
profouudest  of  all  mysteries  (which  we  cannot  here  discuss) — the  existence  of  evil. 


430  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

cases,  accomplishes  very  useful  purposes ;  as  when  the 
mathematical  law  of  the  increment  of  the  shell  enables 
certain  molluscs  to  ascend  and  descend  the  water  at 
will ;  and  when  the  spiral  arrangement  of  the  leaves 
and  buds  all  round  the  axis  exposes  them  equally  to  the 
light  and  to  the  air.  In  all  cases  the  general  order  is 
adapted  to  the  intellect  of  those  who  are  expected  to 
contemplate  it. 

Everything  has,  after  all,  a  final  cause.  The  general 
order  pervading  nature  is  just  a  final  cause  of  a  higher 
and  more  archetypal  character.  In  the  special  principle, 
we  have  every  organ  suited  to  its  function ;  in  the  more 
general  principle,  we  find  all  the  objects  in  nature  suited 
to  man,  who  has  to  study  and  to  use  them.  Professor 
Owen  has  declared,  that  his  practical  assistant  found 
himself  greatly  aided,  in  setting  up  the  bones  of  the  skull, 
by  proceeding  on  the  principle  that  they  were  constructed 
on  the  vertebrate  type.  Lecturers  on  anatomy  find  their 
students  following  them  much  more  readily  when  they 
expound  the  skeleton  on  the  archetypal  idea.  It  is  only 
by  proceeding  on  some  such  method  that  the  nomen- 
clature of  comparative  anatomy  can  be  retained  by  the 
memory.  Without  ■  some  such  principle,  there  would 
require  to  be  one  set  of  names  for  the  bones  in  man, 
another  set  for  the  bones  in  quadrupeds,  and  a  third  and 
a  fourth  set  for  the  bones  of  birds  and  fishes.  By  the 
discovery  of  homologous  parts  running  through  all,  it 
has  been  found  possible  to  devise  a  common  nomencla- 
ture, admitting  of  application  to  all  vertebrate  animals. 
But  let  it  be  observed,  that  it  is  not  the  unity  of  the 
nomenclature  which  gives  the  unity  to  nature,  but  it  is 
the  unity  of  nature  which  has  given  a  unity  to  human 
science,  and  the  nomenclature  which  science  employs. 

These  correspondences  are  admirably  fitted  to  make 


COMBINED    OKDER   AND    ADAPTATION.  431 

creation  comprehensible  by  the  human  faculties.  The 
more  obvious  points  of  resemblance  enable  man  to  recog- 
nise the  nature  and  end  of  the  objects  by  which  he  is 
surrounded.  The  more  fixed  points  allow  him  to  arrange 
them  into  classes  in  due  subordination.  The  repetition 
of  parts  permit  of  his  at  once  taking  an  intelligent  glance 
along  the  whole  length,  and  over  the  whole  frame,  of  the 
animal  and  plant.  The  answerable  parts  permit  of  his 
discovering  unity  among  organs  that  serve  very  diverse 
purposes.  The  members  with  similar  functions  invite 
him  to  observe  a  universal  final  cause.  The  parallel  de- 
velopment points  to  a  unity  of  arrangement  in  the  forces 
by  which  all  these  correspondences  are  produced.  The 
prophetic  system  of  geology  entitles  him  to  look  on  the 
earliest  past  as  a  foreshadowing  of  the  future,  and  on  the 
present  as  the  fulfilment  of  what  has  gone  before. 

Before  the  time  of  GeofTroy  St.  Hilaire,  the  undeve- 
loped rudimentary  organs  were  frequently  thrown  away 
as  useless  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Anatomy  in 
Paris.  But  it  is  rash,  it  is  wrong  to  declare  that  any 
part  of  nature  is  useless.  GeofTroy  restored  these  organs, 
and  thus  led  the  way  to  grander  generalizations  of  organic 
objects  than  had  ever  been  formed  before.  We  have  now 
before  us  a  sufficient  final  cause  of  typical  forms.  We 
may  rise  above  a  special  adaptation  of  parts  to  an  arche- 
typal adaptation  of  the  whole  to  the  constitution  of 
intellectual  beings.  We  have  here  a  most  beautiful  cor- 
respondence between  the  laws  of  external  nature  and  the 
laws  of  the  mind,  between  the  laws  of  things  and  the  laws 
of  thought.*  While  the  special  modifications  or  adapta- 
tions investigated  so  carefully  by  Cuvicr,  are  intended  to 
promote  the  wellbeing  of  the  particular  species  of  ani- 
mal, the  archetypal  plan  investigated  by  Owen  is  fitted 

*  This  is  so  interesting  a  topic,  that  we  ave  to  devote  the  next  chapter  to  it. 


4:32  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

to  make  the  animal  intelligible  by  the  intelligent  crea- 
tion. Owen  has  developed — to  some  extent  perhaps  un- 
consciously, but  to  a  far  greater  extent  consciously — a 
teleology  of  a  higher  order  than  Cuvier. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  the  two  principles,  though  evi- 
dently differing  from  each  other  in  many  respects,  and 
requiring  to  be  separately  treated,  come  to  be  very  much 
alike,  may  be  seen  to  be  analogous — that  is,  different 
organs  fulfilling  a  similar  function.  The  special  adap- 
tation proceeds  on  a  general  principle  of  beneficence,  and 
the  general  principle  is  an  example  of  adaptation  to  a 
special  end.  There  is  a  general  plan  in  the  purpose, 
and  a  purpose  in  the  general  plan.  The  teleology  is  a 
homology,  and  the  homology  is  an  example  of  teleology. 

There  are  some  who  prefer  a  somewhat  different  re- 
ligious interpretation  of  the  model  forms  of  nature. 
Order  and  law,  they  say,  are  the  natural  methods  of  the 
Divine  procedure,  the  ways  in  which  God's  nature  and 
character  spontaneously  exhibit  themselves.  We  need 
seek,  they  say,  no  other  explanation  than  this  of  the 
typical  forms  in  heaven  and  earth,  they  are  just  the 
manifestation  of  the  divine  ideas.  And,  as  to  man's  re- 
cognition and  appreciation  of  these  laws  and  models,  it 
is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  circumstance  that  he  was 
made  in  his  Maker's  image.  We  are  indisposed  to 
advance  a  single  word  against  this  view ;  possibly  it 
may  be  as  true,  as  it  is  certainly  striking  and  sublime. 
It  is  certainly  a  doctrine  which  cannot  be  disproven  :  we 
may  venture  to  doubt  whether  it  admits  of  absolute 
proof.  Do  we  know  so  much  of  the  Divine  nature  as,  a 
priori,  to  be  able  to  affirm  with  certainty,  how  that  na- 
ture must  manifest  itself  in  creation  ?  There  may  even 
be  presumption  implied  in  declaring,  in  some  cases,  that 
the  harmonies  of  nature  arc  after  the  taste  or  character  of 


COMBINED    ORDER    AND    ADAPTATION.  433 

God  ;  for  example,  that  complementary  colours  are  more 
beautiful  to  His  eye,  as  they  are  to  ours,  when  seen  in 
collocation,  than  non-complementary  colours.  But.  while 
we  cannot  predicate  much,  a  priori,  of  the  character  of 
God,  there  is  much  that  we  can  affirm,  a  posteriori,  of 
the  character  of  man,  of  his  intellectual  aptitudes  and 
his  tastes.  We  do  know  that  correlations  among  objects 
are  needful  in  order  to  his  being  able  scientifically  to 
arrange  them,  and  practically  to  use  them,  and  that  he 
has  tastes  implanted  within  him,  which  are  gratified  by 
objects  without  him ;  for  example,  the  ability  to  receive 
gratification  from  the  complementary  colours  of  animals 
and  plants.  We  have  here  a  firm  ground  to  stand  on, 
in  reasoning  from  "what  we  know,"  and  as  there  is  a 
correspondence  between  man's  constitution  and  the  scenes 
in  which  he  is  placed,  we  cannot  be  wrong  in  inferring 
that  God,  by  His  nature  and  character,  is  led  to  accom- 
modate the  external  world  created  by  Him,  to  the  intel- 
lectual nature  of  man,  also  created  by  Him.  There  is 
sense,  then,  and  this  a  sense  as  grand  as  it  is  true,  in 
which  we  are  justified  in  representing  these  types  as 
proceeding  from  the  very  ideas  of  God,  from  His  eternal 
wisdom,  impelled  by  His  eternal  love.  Nay,  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  as  there  are  homologies  anions 
organic  structures,  so  there  may  also  be  correspondences 
among  spiritual  natures,  and  that  other  intelligences, 
differing  in  many  respects  from  man,  may  resemble  him 
in  this,  that  they  also  delight  in  these  laws  and  patterns; 
while  God,  over  all,  may  be  conceived  as  rejoicing  in  all 
His  works  together. 

As  taking  this  view,  we  are  not  inclined  to  admit  that 
the  doctrine  of  final  cause  has  been  set  aside,  or  shaken, 
or  even  damaged,  by  late  discoveries  in  natural  history.  It 
is  true  that  some  of  those  engaged  in  making  these  dis- 

19 


434  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

coveries  did  not  see  their  consistency  with  teleology. 
Oken,  as  a  pantheist,  admitted,  so  far  as  we  know,  no  final 
cause  into  his  system.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire  reckoned  it 
presumptuous  in  man  to  discover  any  end  designed  by 
the  Creator.  Cuvier  was  led  to  reject  the  doctrine  of  the 
unity  of  the  vertebrate  skeleton,  partly  by  the  practical 
turn  of  his  mind,  partly  by  the  fear  that  it  would  inter- 
fere with  the  doctrine  of  final  cause.  Some,  we  suspect, 
have  supported  the  doctrine  of  a  physical  uniformity  of 
parts,  because  it  seemed  to  deliver  them  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  calling  in  a  personal  God  to  account  for  the 
economy  of  nature  ;  while  not  a  few  have  regarded 
it  with  suspicion,  because  it  seemed  to  be  atheistic  or 
pantheistic  in  its  tendency.  But  amidst  all  these  exhi- 
bitions of  presumption  and  of  fear,  the  doctrine  of  final 
cause  stands  as  firm  and  as  impregnable  as  ever,  assail- 
able by  no  known  fact,  consistent  with  every  established 
truth. 

Physiological  research  has,  we  admit,  established  a 
truth  which  cannot  be  reduced  to  final  cause  in  the  nar- 
row sense  of  the  term,  but  that  truth  is  not  inconsistent 
with  final  cause — it  is  an  illustration  of  a  higher  form 
of  final  cause.  We  blame  Cuvier  because  he  would  not 
attend  to  the  evidence  which  his  own  discoveries  supplied 
in  favor  of  unity  of  composition.  Not  being  of  a  specu- 
lative turn  of  mind,  he  would  attend,  he  said,  to  nothing 
but  facts,  and  content  himself  with  classifying  them. 
But  we  must  also  blame  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  when,  after 
condemning  Cuvier  for  narrowing  the  field  of  science,  he 
professed  to  be  incapable  of  discovering  final  cause,  and 
bids  us  remain  "  historiaus  of  what  is."  *  Final  cause  is, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  as  certain  as  unity  of  composition. 
It  is  surely  as  certain  that  the  eye  was  made  to  see,  as 

*  Vie,  Travaux  ct  Doc.  Scien.  de  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  par  son  Fils,  p.  304. 


COMBINED    OEDER    AND    ADAPTATION.  435 

that  it  is  the  homologue  of  the  whisker  of  a  cat.*  "We 
give  little  credit  for  sincerity  to  those  who  acknowledge 
that  they  have  overwhelming  evidence  in  favour  of  the 
former  truth,  but  no  convincing  proof  in  behalf  of  the 
latter. 

Again,  there  are  metaphysicians  who  think  that  they 
have  undermined  the  whole  doctrine.  We  must  reserve 
to  a  separate  section  the  examination  of  any  plausible 
considerations  which  they  can  urge.  Meanwhile,  let  it 
be  observed  that  their  objections  proceed  on  principles 
which  would  undermine  all  other  objective  truth,  and 
leave  us  only  a  series  of  connected  mental  processes.  The 
principles  by  which  they  would  set  final  cause  aside  have 
not  half  the  evidence  in  their  favour  which  the  doctrine 
of  final  cause  has.  We  are  sorry  to  find  an  accomplished 
and  devout  writer  saying,  "  The  argument  from  first  or 
final  cause  will  not  bear  the  tests  of  modern  metaphysi- 
cal inquirers.  The  most  highly  educated  minds  are  above 
them,  the  uneducated  cannot  be  made  to  comprehend 
them."f  The  modern  metaphysical  speculators  who 
have  rejected  final  cause,  have  great  need  to  review  their 
own  principles  when  they  are  opposed  to  a  truth  so  obvious 
and  so  supported  by  scientific  research.  The  argument 
from  final  cause  is  one  which  the  uneducated  universally 
feel,  though  they  are  incapable  of  explicating  it  logically, 
or  illustrating  it  scientifically.  The  educated  can 
feel  that  they  are  above  it  only  in  so  far  as  they  are 
elevated  by  the  intoxicating  fumes  of  German  specula- 
tion, which  would  make  man  believe  that  he  is  a  god, 
and  that  he  creates  from  the  stores  of  his  own  mind  the 
final  cause,  which  he  simply  discovers.     Verily  there  are 

*  In  tho  animal  body  the  following  parts  are  admitted  to  be  all  homologous;— Tactile 
Corpuscles,  Pacinian  bodies,  Savian  bodies,  Muciparous  ducts  of  fishes,  Vibrissas  (whis- 
kers) of  cat  and  others,  the  eye,  the  ear. 

t  Jowctt  on  Epistle  to  the  Romans;  Natural  Religion,  p.  410. 


436  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

metaphysicians  whose  heads  have  been  so  dizzied  with 
the  turnings  and  windings  of  their  own  cogitations,  that 
realities  swim  before  them  and  they  cannot  distinguish 
between  them  and  phantoms.  Living  forever  in  a  region 
of  pure,  or  rather  very  impure  and  cloudy  speculation, 
they  do  not,  as  the  physical  investigator  is  ever  doing, 
meet  with  stringent  facts  to  restrain  and  control  them ; 
they  have  become  utterly  incapable  of  weighing  ordinary 
evidence,  probable  and  moral  ;  they  cannot  see  that  the 
thoroughly  established  truths  of  inductive  science  are  in 
the  least  degree  more  certain  than  the  last  spawned,  a 
priori,  theory  of  the  universe  ;  nay,  some  of  them  (such 
as  Hegel)  are  prepared  to  deny  the  doctrine  of  gravi- 
tation itself,  because  it  will  not  fall  in  with  their  theory. 
No  wonder  that  final  cause  cannot  stand  the  tests  of 
such  inquirers,  for  these  tests  need  themselves  to  be  tested. 
As  taking  so  enlarged  a  view  of  final  cause,  we  have 
no  objection  to  the  general  statement  laid  down  by  some 
eminent  scientific  men,  that  there  are  parts  of  the  vege- 
table and  animal  frame  which  have  no  respect  to  the 
functions  of  the  plant  and  animal.  "  There  is  yet  an- 
other law,"  says  De  Candolle,  "to  be  understood  to  enable 
us  to  judge  properly  respecting  the  nature  of  organs.  In 
innumerable  instances  there  appear  forms  similar  to 
those  which  are  connected  with  a  definite  function,  but 
which  do  not  fulfil  that  function,  and  nature,  in  these 
instances,  as  in  the  animal  kingdom.,  seems  to  produce 
forms  which  are  completely  useless,  merely  for  the  sake 
of  a  harmonious  and  symmetrical  structure.  The  ap- 
pearance of  filaments  with  empty  anthers  in  flowers 
which  are  altogether  female,  and  of  female  parts  in 
flowers  wholly  male,  the  structure  of  filaments  in  other 
forms  where  they  resemble  nectaries,  the  false  nectaro- 
thecse  in  such  orchidge  as  have  no  nectaries,  these  are 


COMBINED    ORDER    AND    ADAPTATION.  437 

all  formations  which  can  only  be  explained  by  the  law 
of  nature  we  are  now  illustrating."  Professor  Owen 
uses  similar  language  : — "  I  think  it  will  be  obvious  that 
the  principle  of  final  adaptation  fails  to  satisfy  all  the 
conditions  of  the  problem.  That  every  segment  and  al- 
most every  bone  which  is  present  in  the  human  hand  and 
arm  should  exist  in  the  fin  of  the  whale,  solely  because 
it  is  assumed  they  were  required  in  such  number  and 
collocation  for  the  movement  of  that  undivided  and  in- 
flexible paddle,  squares  as  little  with  our  idea  of  the 
simplest  mode  of  effecting  the  purpose,  as  the  reason 
which  might  be  assigned  for  the  greater  number  of  bones 
in  the  cranium  of  the  chick,  viz.,  to  allow  the  safe  com- 
pression of  the  brain-case  during  the  act  of  extrusion, 
squares  with  the  requirements  of  that  act."*  And  again, 
"  The  attempt  to  explain  by  the  Cuvierian  principles  the 
facts  of  special  homology  on  the  hypothesis  of  the  sub- 
servience of  the  parts  so  determined  to  similar  ends  in 
different  animals — to  say  that  the  same  or  answerable 
bones  occur  in  them  because  they  have  to  perform  simi- 
lar functions — involves  many  difficulties,  and  is  opposed 
by  numerous  phenomena.  We  may  admit  that  the 
multiplied  points  of  ossification  in  the  skull  of  the  human 
foetus  facilitate,  and  were  designed  to  facilitate,  child- 
birth ;  yet  something  more  than  such  a  final  pnrpose  lies 
beneath  the  fact,  that  most  of  these  osseous  centres  repre- 
sent permanently  distinct  bones  in  the  cold-blooded  ver- 
tebrates. The  cranium  of  the  bird,  which  is  composed 
in  the  adult  of  a  single  bone,  is  ossified  from  the  same 
number  of  points  as  in  the  human  embryo,  without  the 
possibility  of  a  similar  purpose  being  subserved  thereby 
in  the  extrication  of  the  chick  from  the  fractured  egg- 
shell.    The  composite  structure  is  repeated  in  the  minute 

*  On  Limbs,  p.  40. 


438  THE    ARGUMENT    FROM 

and,  prematurely-born  embryo  of  the  marsupial  quadru- 
peds. Moreover,  in  the  bird  and  marsupial,  as  in  the 
human  subject,  the  different  points  of  ossification  have 
the  same  relative  position  and  plan  of  arrrangement  as  in 
the  skull  of  the  young  crocodile,  in  which,  as  in  most 
other  reptiles,  and  in  most  fishes,  the  bones,  so  commen- 
cing, maintain  throughout  life  their  .primitive  distinct- 
ness. These,  and  a  hundred  such  facts,  force  upon  the 
contemplative  anatomist  the  inadequacy  of  the  teleo- 
logical  hypothesis."* 

It  might  be  argued,  if  not  with  truth,  at  least  with 
considerable  plausibility,  that  some  of  these  statements 
go  farther  than  science  warrants.  It  might  be  main- 
tained that  we  are  not  entit]ed  to  affirm  that  an  organ 
has  no  use,  merely  because  we  are  not  able  to  detect  it. 
Science,  as  it  advances,  is  ever  shewing  that  organs  which 
were  at  one  time  regarded  as  useless,  have  most  impor- 
tant uses  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  economy.  Who 
will  venture  to  affirm  that  the  bones  of  the  skull  of  the 
young  chick,  have  no  reference,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
animal  instincts  ?  or  that  the  division  in  the  parts  of  the 
fin  of  the  whale  do  not  the  better  enable  the  female  to 
carry  the  cub  under  her  arm  when  she  is  pursued  by  an 
enemy  ?f  But,  while  we  throw  out  this  caution,  we  are 
inclined  to  admit  that  certainly  in  the  vegetable,  and 
probably  in  the  animal  kingdom,  there  are  parts  retained 
for  the  sake  of  symmetry  which  are  not  necessary  to  the 
mere  function  of  the  organ.  In  making  such  an  admis- 
sion, we  are  not,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  weakening  the 
great  principle  of  final  cause,  so  long  as  we  call  in  a 
higher  final  cause,  and  affirm  that  these  part  are  fitted, 
in  some  cases,  to  give  instruction  to  mankind,  and.  in 
3ther  cases,  to  gratify  their  higher  tastes. 

*  Homologies,  p.  75.  +  See  Sooresby,  Arctic  Regions,  vol.  i  p.  471 


COMBINED    OKDEK    AND    ADAPTATION.  439 

In  Civil  Architecture  there  are  four  principles,  it  is 
said,*  to  be  attended  to  :—  1st,  Convenience  ;  2c?,  Sym- 
metry ;  3d,  Eurythma,  or  such  a  balance  and  disposi- 
tion of  parts  as  evidences  design  ;  and,  4th,  Ornament. 
It  is  pleasant  to  notice  that  not  one  of  these  is  wanting 
in  the  architecture  of  nature.  The  presence  of  any  of 
them  might  be  sufficient  to  prove  design  ;  the  presence 
and  concurrance  of  them  all  furnishes  the  most  over- 
whelming evidence.  Upon  taking  a  combined  view  of 
the  whole,  we  feel  as  if  we  have  proof  of  much  more  than 
of  the  existence  of  law  or  a  pinciple  of  order ;  we  feel 
as  if  we  have  distinct  traces  of  a  personal  God  planning 
minute  and  specific  ends.  We  do  not  know  whether  to 
admire  most  the  all-pervading  order  which  runs  through 
the  whole  of  nature,  through  all  the  parts  of  the  plant 
and  animal,  and  through  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
different  species  of  plants  and  animals,  or  the  skillful  ac- 
commodation of  every  part,  and  of  every  organ,  in  every 
species,  to  the  purpose  which  it  is  meant  to  serve.  The 
one  leads  us  to  discover  the  lofty  wisdom  which  planned 
all  things  from  the  beginning,  and  the  enlarged  bene- 
ficence reaching  over  all  without  respect  of  persons; 
whereas  the  other  impresses  us  more  with  the  providen- 
tial care  and  special  beneficence  which,  in  attending  to 
the  whole,  has  not  overlooked  any  part,  but  has  made 
provision  for  every  individual  member  of  the  myriads  of 
animated  beings. 

*  See  Lectures  in  connexion  with  opening  of  Great  Exibition. 


CHAPTER   II. 

CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  THE  LAWS  OF  THE  MATERIAL 
WORLD  AND  THE  FACULTIES  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND.  ' 

SECT.  I. THE  FANTASY,  OR   IMAGING   POWER    OF   THE   MIND. 

It  is  Mind  that  is  to  be  the  special  object  of  contem- 
plation in  this  chapter  ; — not  mind  in  its  essence,  of 
which  we  can  know  but  little,  but  mind  in  its  actual 
operations  ;  mind  looking  out  by  the  senses  on  the  .world 
without,  and  studying  and  admiring  it ;  mind  making 
the  past  to  reappear,  and  imagine  the  absent  as  if  pre- 
sent ;  mind  analyzing  the  complex  structure  of  nature 
into  its  elements,  and  discovering  resemblances  which 
group  all  nature  into  a  few  grand  systems  ;  mind  rising 
from  the  effect  to  the  remote  and  unseen  cause,  arguing 
from  the  known  past  to  the  unknown  future,  and  disco- 
vering, by  cogitation,  new  planets  before  the  far-pene- 
trating telescope  had  detected  them  :  it  is  this  mind 
which  is  to  exhibit  a  few  of  its  varied  powers  and  move- 
ments to  our  view.  Natural  philosophy  does  not  unfold 
laws  of  a  wider  sweej),  chemistry  does  not  disclose  more 
curious  combinations,  nor  natural  history  a  more  wonder- 
ful organization,  than  this  ever  active  and  living  mind. 
There  is  a  gradation  from  the  inanimate,  up  through  the 
plant  and  the  animal,  to  mind,  as  the  crowning  object. 


IMAGINING    POWER    OF    THE    MIND.  441 

The  motion  of  the  planet  in  its  elliptic  orbit  is  no  doubt 
beautiful  to  contemplate,  but  having  enjoyed  a  higher 
existence,  we  would  not  choose  to  run,  year  after  year,  in 
that  one  unvarying  orbit.  If  the  choice  were  given  us, 
we  would  rather  be  a  plant  than  a  planet — we  would 
rather  be  a  lily,  expanding  its  petals  in  the  sunshine — 
we  would  rather  be  the  oak,  shooting  out  and  ramifying 
at  will,  and  facing  the  buffetings  of  the  storm.  If  the 
option  were  allowed  us,  there  is  a  higher  life  that  we 
would  prefer.  An  eminent  man,  on  seeing  the  sea-fowl 
career  from  the  wave  to  the  cliff,  and  sweeping  from  the 
cliff  to  the  wave,  expressed  the  momentary  feeling,  "  Well, 
I  should  not  dislike  to  be  a  sea-bird — I  would  have  such 
a  variety  of  life  in  water,  in  air,  and  on  land."  But  hav- 
ing enjoyed  by  our  Maker's  beneficence,  a  still  higher 
life,  we  would  not  descend  to  these  lower  states  of  exist- 
ence. For  this  mind  with  which  we  are  endowed,  or 
rather,  which  constitutes  our  true  self,  can,  in  its  thoughts, 
run  a  wider  orbit  than  the  planets,  and  wander  into  in- 
finity ;  it  can,  in  the  midst  of  sunshine  and  of  storm, 
grow  on  and  on  in  knowledge  and  in  love,  and  in  all  that 
is  great  and  good  throughout  eternity  ;  it  can  take  in 
more  than  earth  and  sea  and  air  and  all  the  elements, 
and  rise,  by  contemplation  and  purification,  to  gaze  on 
infinite  perfection  embodied  in  the  character  of  God. 
Surely  this  mind,  with  its  laws  and  operation,  is  worthy 
of  our  careful  study.  We  are  to  shew  that,  while  it  is 
vastly  above  them  all,  it  is  yet  suited,  by  its  structure  and 
its  organs,  to  all  the  objects  by  which  it  is  surrounded, 
and  which  it  is  expected  to  contemplate  and  to  use. 
When  man  appears  on  the  earth,  which  had  been  so  long 
in  preparation  for  him,  he  comes  writh  powers  and  apti- 
tudes fitted  to  the  scene  in  which  he  is  placed.  We  have 
now  before  us  a  correspondence  of  a  higher  kind  than 

19* 


442  THE    FANTASY,    OR 

any  previously  contemplated.  It  may  be  called  the 
Archetypal  correspondence  connecting  Homology  with 
Teleology. 

In  illustrating  this  subject,  we  are  to  use  mental  facul- 
ties and  laws,  which,  under  one  name  or  other,  are  treated, 
or  at  least  referred  to  and  incidentally  sanctioned,  in  every 
system  of  mental  science.  There  are,  doubtless,  differ- 
ences of  opinion  as  to  the  nomenclature  best  fitted  to  set 
forth  these  laws  and  powers  ;  we  are  to  avoid  the  diffi- 
culties arising  from  this  source,  by  employing  as  little 
technical  language  as  possible.  Even  those  who  regard 
our  classification  as  not  the  best,  and  our  analysis  too 
refined  or  not  sufficiently  refined,  will  yet  be  prepared 
to  acknowledge,  that  the  powers  of  which  we  treat  are 
in  the  mind  of  man,  either  as  original  or  derived  ;  and 
this  is  all  that  needs  to  be  admitted  in  order  to  our  being- 
entitled  to  use  them  as  we  do  in  this  chapter.  We  begin 
with  the  Imaging  or  Pictorial  Power  of  the  Mind. 

The  reader  will  be  able  to  discover  what  is  meant  by 
this  power,  if  he  but  observe,  that  whatever  is  recalled 
or  imagined  by  the  mind  comes  with  an  image  more  or 
less  distinct.  We  call  up,  let  me  suppose,  some  incident 
of  our  childhood.  We  remember  the  clay  on  which  we 
were  sent  to  school,  and  how  we  set  out  from  our  parents' 
roof  with  strangely  mingled  feelings  of  hope  and  appre- 
hension. As  we  bring  back  these  scenes,  mark  how  every- 
thing appears  with  a  pictorial  power.  We  have  a  vivid 
picture,  it  may  be,  of  the  road  along  which  we  passed  ; 
we  see,  as  it  were,  the  school-house  both  externally  and 
internally  ;  we  hear,  as  it  were,  the  master  addressing  us, 
and  the  remarks  which  the  children  made  upon  us.  Or 
more  pleasant  still,  we  remember  a  holiday  trip  under- 
taken by  us,  in  the  company  of  a  pleasant  companion  or 
kind  relative,  to  a  scene  interesting  in  itself,  or  made 


IMAGING    POWER    OF    THE    MIND.  443 

interesting  by  its  historical  associations  ;  or,  what  we  felt 
to  be' still  more  agreeable,  the  visit  was  paid  to  the  house 
of  a  kind  friend,  who  had  a  thousand  contrivances  to 
please  and  entertain  us.  How  vivid  the  representation 
before  us  of  the  events  of  the  journey,  of  the  little  inci- 
dents which  befell  us,  of  the  amusements  which  were 
provided  for  us,  and  of  the  persons,  the  countenances,  the 
voice  and  words  of  those  who  joined  us  in  our  mirth,  or 
ministered  to  our  gratification  !  We  not  only  remember 
that  there  were  such  events,  but  we,  as  it  were,  perceive 
them  before  us  ;  this  imaging  of  them  is,  as  it  were,  an 
essential  element  of  our  remembrance.  Wordsworth  is 
painting  from  the  life  when  he  speaks  of 

"  Those  recollected  hours  that  have  the  charm 
Of  visionary  things ;  those  lovely  forms 
And  sweet  sensations  that  throw  back  our  life, 
And  almost  make  remotest  infancy 
A  visible  scene  on  which  the  sun  is  shining." 

Or  possibly  there  may  be  scenes  which  have  imprinted 
themselves  still  more  deeply  upon  our  minds,  which 
have,  as  it  were,  burned  their  image  into  our  souls.  Let 
us  cast  back  our  mind  upon  the  time  when  death,  as  an 
unwelcome  intruder,  first  entered  our  dwelling.  We  re- 
member ourselves  standing  by  the  dying  bed  of  a  father 
or  mother,  or  sister  or  brother,  and  then  we  recollect  how 
a  few  days  after  we  saw  the  lifeless  body  put  into  the 
coffin,  and,  within  a  brief  period  after,  saw  it  borne  away 
to  the  tomb.  How  terribly  vivid  and  distinct  do  all 
these  scenes  stand  before  us  at  this  instant  !  We,  as  it 
were,  see  that  pallid  countenance  looking  forth  from  the 
couch  upon  us  ;  we,  as  it  were,  hear  that  voice  becoming 
feeblei  and  yet  feebler  ;  and  then  we  feel  as  if  we  were 
looking  at  that  fixed  gaze  which  the  countenance  assumed 


444  THE    VANTASY,    OK 

after  the  spirit  had  fled  ;  we  follow  the  long  funeral  as 
it  winds  away  to  the  place  of  the  dead,  and  we  hear  the 
earth  falling  on  the  coffin  as  the  dust  is  committed  to 
its  kindred  dust. 

And  we  would  have  it  remarked,  that  not  only  are  we 
able  to  represent  these  sensible  scenes,  we  are  farther  able 
to  picture  the  thoughts  and  feelings  which  passed  through 
our  minds  as  we  mingled  in  them.  Not  only  do  we  re- 
member the  road  along  which  we  travelled,  and  the 
building  into  which  we  entered,  we  can  recall  the  feel- 
ings with  which  we  set  out  from  our  parents'  house,  and 
those  with  which  we  walked  into  the  school.  Not  only 
do  we  recollect  the  amusements  which  so  interested  us, 
but  the  feelings  of  interest  with  which  we  engaged  in 
them.  Not  only  can  we  picture  the  chamber  in  which 
a  relative  breathed  his  last,  we  can  call  up  the  mingled 
feelings  of  anxiety,  of  fear,  and  of  hope  with  which  we 
watched  by  his  dying  bed,  and  the  emotions  of  grief 
which  overwhelmed  us  as  we  endeavoured  to  realize  the 
loss  which  we  had  suffered.  We  can  set  before  us  the 
feelings  which  passed  through  our  minds  as  we  sat  by 
his  corpse,  or  when  we  returned  to  our  dwelling  and 
found  all  so  blank  and  melancholy.  We  are  obliged  to 
use  metaphorical  language  in  describing  these  recollec- 
tions, but  it  is  language  which  embodies  .and  expresses 
important  truth : — we  speak  of  being  able  to  image,  to 
picture  to  ourselves  not  only  the  outward  events  which 
called  forth  the  feelings,  but  the  very  feelings  themselves. 

This  mental  power  we  are  disposed  to  call  the  Fan- 
tasy. It  is  a  phrase  used  by  Aristotle,  and  explained  by 
Quintilian — "Quas  tpuvmokas  Graeci  vocant  nos  sane 
visiones  appellamus  :  per  quas  imagines  rerum  absentium 
ita  representantur  animo  ut  eas  cernere  oculis  ac  prsesen- 
tes  habere  videamur."     Lord  Monboddo  defines  it,  in  his 


IMAGING    POWER    OF    THE    MIND.  445 

Ancient  Metaphysics,  the  power  "  by  which  the  images 
of  things  presented  to  the  mind  "by  the  senses  are  pre- 
served." But  this  definition  is  too  narrow  for  our  purpose, 
for  the  mind  can  represent  not  only  what  has  been  pre- 
sented by  the  senses,  but  all  that  has  been  before  the 
consciousness,  all  that  has  been  under  the  eye  of  reflection. 
We  think  it  of  moment  to  make  this  remark,  because 
the  grand  object  of  higher  education,  and  especially  of 
religious  discipline,  is  to  lift  the  mind  above  material  to 
the  contemplation  of  spiritual  images. 

Every  one  sees  how  these  mental  pictures  are  fitted  to 
enliven  existence  and  increase  enjoyment.  They  help  us, 
too,  by  their  vividness,  to  carry  on  trains  of  thought. 
Those  nominalists  are  altogether  mistaken  who  suppose 
that  man  reasons  solely  by  means  of  words,  or  artificial 
signs  of  any  description.  We  are  far,  indeed,  from  deny- 
ing the  utility  of  language  as  an  instrument  of  thought. 
Language  is  a  sort  of  stenography,  by  which  we  can  ab- 
breviate thought,  and  it  helps  us  especially  in  those  more 
recondite  processes,  in  which  our  more  refined  abstrac- 
tions or  wider  generalizations  could  be  represented  by  no 
fantasy,  or  where  images  could  mislead  by  their  fulness 
of  detail,  or  their  vividness.  But  man  thinks  primarily 
by  mental  symbols,  by  pictures  remembered  or  created 
by  the  image-fcrming  capacity  of  the  mind.  So  far  from 
oral  or  written  signs  being  primarily  the  object  of 
thought,  the  first  artificial  signs  are  commonly  outward 
pictures  of  the  inward  image.  The  earliest  words  and 
writings  coined  by  man  were  hieroglyphic,  and  it  was  by 
degrees  that  they  were  refined  into  the  highly  analytic 
expressions  furnished  by  our  more  advanced  languages, 
such  as  those  of  ancient  Greece,  or  those  modern  ones 
formed  out  of  the  debris  of  old  tongues.  But  language, 
if  used  as  the  sole  representative  sign,  has  its  defects  as 


446  THE   FANTASY,    OK 

well  as  its  excellences.  The  thoughts  thus  represented 
have,  on  account  of  their  remoteness  from  reality,  no 
interest  to  vast  multitudes  ;  these  dried  plants  do  not 
excite  half  the  amount  of  emotion  which  collects  around 
the  natural  ones  with  the  life  circulating  in  them.  The 
most  popular  employers  of  words  are  those  who  use  them 
to  set  before  lis  vivid  pictures.  In  the  ages  and  nations 
in  which  dead  symbols  are  most  resorted  to,  and  serve 
the  highest  purposes,  we  must  still  go  to  nature  for  our 
fresh  and  living  symbols.  Need  we  say  that  nature  is 
ever  presenting  them  to  us  in  infinite  number  and  variety, 
in  the  forms  of  the  animal  and  plant,  in  the  mountains 
and  plains  of  the  earth,  in  the  clouds  and  stars  of  the 
sky. 

It  is,  indeed,  of  vast  moment  to  have  the  mind  stored 
with  a  variety  of  noble  images  to  enliven  and  elevate  it, 
to  act  as  Quintilian  says,  "incitamenta  mentis."  This 
end  is  much  promoted  by  an  early  training  among  natu- 
ral objects  which  are  picturesque  ;  by  travelling  at  a 
later  period  of  life  into  foreign  countries,  and  by  the 
opportunity  thus  afforded  of  holding  communion  with 
nature  in  her  grander  forms,  and  of  inspecting  the  noblest 
products  of  the  fine  arts.  But,  while  gathering  these 
material  pictures,  let  the  young  man  and  the  old  man 
not  forget  that  there  are  others  which  he  should  not  be 
losing,  and  which,  if  he  part  with,  his  gain  will  be  more 
than  counterbalanced  by  his  loss.  For  there  are  images 
which  it  is  still  more  important  to  have  treasured  up  in 
his  mind ;  they  are  the  images  of  domestic  peace,  the 
images  of  home  and  friends,  of  the  affectionate  mother 
(we  can  never  have  more  than  one  mother)  and  devoted 
wife,  of  kind  sisters  and  smiling  children,  and  to  these 
let  us  acid,  by  personal  intercourse  with  them,  or  by  ele- 
vated reading,   the  images  of  the  great  and  good,  of 


IMAGING    POWER    OF    THE    MIND.  447 

heroic  in  en,  who  toiled  and  bled  for  noble  ends,  and  of 
equally  heroic  women,  who'  lost  sight  of  themselves  in 
works  of  disinterested  love  and  sacrifice.  These  are  in 
themselves  vastly  more  exalted,  and  ten  thousand  times 
more  exalting,  than  all  your  statues,  draped  and  un- 
draped,  about  which  connoisseurs  so  talk  and  rave  ;  they 
are  fitted  to  become  incitements  to  all  excellence,  and  he 
who  has  been  at  the  pains  to  collect  them  and  hang  them 
round  the  chamber  of  his  mind,  is  like  one  dwelling  in  a 
portrait  gallery,  from  which  the  forms  of  ancestors  are 
looking  down  upon  him  with  a  smile,  and  exhorting  him 
to  all  that  is  great  and  good. 

And  there  is  one  other  object  of  which  it  is  more  im- 
portant still  that  we  have  a  noble  image.  The  funda- 
mental evil  of  images,  as  used  in  the  worship  of  God, 
does  not  lie  in  their  being  pictures,  but  in  their  incapa- 
city to  act  as  pictures.  "  To  whom  will  ye  liken  God  ? 
or  what  likeness  will  ye  compare  unto  Him  ?"  The  stars 
in  their  purity  are  not  suitable  emblems  of  His  holiness; 
nor  the  moon,  shining  in  beauty,  of  His  loveliness  ;  the 
sun  in  all  his  splendour  has  his  beams  paled  in  the 
dazzling  brightness  of  His  glory.  There  can  be  no  cor- 
poreal image  of  God,  who  is  a  spirit.  One  grand  aim  of 
Eevelation  is  to  lift  us  above  such  gross  representations, 
and  to  lead  us  to  worship  a  spiritual  God  in  "  spirit  and 
in  truth."  Man  in  his  first  estate,  not  his  body  but  his 
soul,  was  a  sort  of  image  of  Him  ;  but  man  in  his  fallen 
state  is  a  caricature  of  Him.  But  we  have  one  perfect 
image  of  God  set  before  us  in  His  Word,  as  in  a  glass, 
(2  Cor.  iii.  18,)  in  Him  who  is  the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory — only  seen  under  a  milder  lustre — and 
the  express  image  of  His  person.  By  such  a  mediate 
representation,  aided  by  the  types  and  figures  which  the 
Old  Testament  supplies,  our  minds  may  rise  to  a  some- 


148  THE    FANTASY,    OR 

what  adequate  idea  of  a  spiritual  God,  even  as,  by  the 
redemption  purchased  by  that  same  Mediator,  we  hope 
at  last  to  mount  to  the  immediate  presence  of  God.  "  No 
man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time  ;  the  only-begotten  Son, 
which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  declared 
Him."  We  shall  return  to  this  subject  before  we  close 
the  treatise. 

But  speaking  of  the  connexion  pre-established  between 
the  laws  of  mind  and  those  of  matter,  it  is  most  inter- 
esting to  notice,  that  the  most  correct  memory,  in  recalling 
an  object,  seldom  reproduces  it  with  all  its  individualities. 
In  coming  up  before  the  mind  as  a  picture,  it  appears 
with  only  the  more  prominent  qualities,  features,  and 
colours — only  with  those  which  most  vividly  impressed 
the  senses,  or  which  were  most  noticed  at  the  time.  The 
consequence  is,  that  the  recollection  appears  very  much 
as  a  type  of  the  object.  In  representing,  for  example, 
some  animal  that  we  have  seen,  say  a  deer,  we  drop  from 
our  view  not  a  few  specialties  of  the  individual,  and  form 
a  sort  of  general  picture,  which  might  stand  for  any  other 
deer.  There  may  be  cases  indeed  in  which  we  were  so 
deeply  impressed  with  every  part  of  the  object,  that  we 
see  it  as  it  were  before  us,  with  all  its  peculiarities  ;  but 
in  most  instances  we  so  far  generalize  or  idealize  it. 
That  this  should  be  the  law  of  the  reproduction  of  what 
we  have  experienced,  we  cannot  but  regard  as,  in  a  ne- 
gative sense,  a  most  merciful  dispensation,  as  it  saves  the 
mind  from  the  distraction  which  would  be  produced  by 
numberless  minutise  ever  floating  before  it.  But  there  is 
another  and  more  positive  advantage  arising  from  this 
tendency  of  the  mind  to  generalize  its  representations — 
the  mental  image  of  natural  objects  becomes  a  type  of  the 
species  or  genus.  After  we  have  looked  at  a  number  of 
natural,  especially  organized  objects,  the  recollection  will 


IMAGING   POWER    OF    THE    MIND.  449. 

be  found,  in  fact,  to  be  not  far  from  the  type  constituted 
in  nature  as  the  model  after  which  objects  are  formed. 
With  this  generalized  representation  in  our  minds,  we 
are  the  better  prepared  at  once  to  refer  the  individual 
before  us  to  its  genus  or  species,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  notice  the  specialties  of  the  new  individuals  which 
may  come  before  us.  There  are  thus  preparations  made, 
in  the  very  structure  of  the  mind,  for  the  contemplation 
and  recognition  of  natural  substances  and  beings.  The 
very  mind  and  memory  supplies  a  series  of  typical  models, 
and  he  who  has  his  mind  furnished  with  such  images,  is 
like  one  walking  in  a  museum  filled  with  specimens  to? 
illustrate  the  natural  orders.  The  mind  is  disposed,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  give  to  every  object  a  typical  form  in 
its  representations ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  it  finds,  in 
its  actual  experience,  that  types  run  through  nature. 
We  might  almost  say,  that  there  are  types  in  nature  and 
types  in  the  mind  corresponding  to  each  other,  as  an 
object  does  to  its  image  in  a  mirror. 

sect.  ii. the  faculties  whictt  discover  relatioks 

(correlative.) 

The  soul  is  endowed  with  powers  called  sense-percep- 
tion and  self-consciousness,  by  which  it  is  enabled  to 
know  the  material  objects  presented  to  it  through  the-; 
senses,  and  also  to  know  self  in  its  shifting  moods  &Bf\ 
states.  These  simple  cognitive  powers  supply  us  with 
the  raw  elements  of  our  knowledge.  The  mh\d  has  also 
a  set  of  powers  which  enable  it  to  retain  and  reproduce 
the  past.  To  this  class  belong  the  memory,  which  re- 
tains and  recalls  the  past  in  the  form  which  it  assumed 
when  it  was  previously  before  the  mind  ;  and  the  imagin 
ation,  which  brings  up  the  past  in  new  shapes  and  com,- 


450  THE    FACULTIES 

binations.  Both  of  these  are  reflective  of  objects  ;  but 
the  one  may  be  compared  to  the  mirror  which  reflects 
whatever  has  been  before  it,  in  its  proper  form  and 
colour  ;  the  other  may  be  likened  to  the  kaleidoscope, 
which  reflects  what  is  before  it  in  an  infinite  variety  of 
new  forms  and  dispositions.  The  knowledge  thus  ac- 
quired and  reproduced,  though  furnishing  the  materials 
of  all  that  follows,  would,  however,  be  very  valueless  un- 
less there  were  a  higher  set  of  faculties  to  work  upon  it. 
But  the  mind  has  a  class  of  powers  which  elaborate  the 
materials  thus  acquired,  by  discovering  relations  among 
the  objects  which  have  become  known  to  it.  By  these 
faculties,  the  materials,  all  but  useless  in  themselves,  are 
turned  into  an  infinite  variety  of  cognitions  and  judg- 
ments. Nor  is  there  a  greater  difference  between  the 
wool  when  stript  from  the  sheep,  and  the  beautiful  gar- 
ment into  which  it  is  woven  ;  between  the  flax  in  its  raw 
state,  and  the  fine  linen  of  exquisite  pattern  constructed 
from  it  ;  between  the  stone  when  taken  from  the  quarry, 
and  the  marble  statue  into  which  it  is  wrought — than 
there  is  between  man's  primary  knowledge  through  the 
senses  and  the  consciousness,  and  those  lofty  compari- 
sons, and  refined  abstractions,  and  linked  ratiocinations, 
which  he  is  able  to  construct  by  his  higher  intellectual 
faculties.  There  must  be  a  correspondence  between  our 
simplest  knowing  powers  and  the  objects  known  ;  but  these 
other,  as  the  scientific  faculties,  are  the  powers  which 
fall  more  especially  under  our  notice  in  tracing  the  cor- 
respondence between  the  laws  of  the  external  world  and 
the  laws  of  human  intelligence. 

The  relations  which  the  human  mind  is  capable  of 
discovering  are  very  many  and  very  varied  :  Locke  de- 
scribes them  as  infinite — they  are  certainly  innumerable. 
It  is  necessary,  in    consequence,  to  classify  them.     We 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).        451 

are  far  from  thinking  that  the  arrangement  which  we  are 
about  to  submit  is  perfect.  It  is  possible  that  a  better 
division  might  be  made  ;  but  it  is  sufficient  for  our 
purpose  that  the  powers  of  which  we  are  to  treat,  by 
whatever  name  they  may  be  called,  and  however  they  may 
he  arranged,  have  actually  a  place  in  the  mind.  The  mind 
is  able  and  disposed  to  discover  at  least  three  distinct 
classes  of  relations  : — First,  that  of  Whole  and  Parts; 
secondly,  that  of  Kesemblance  and  Difference  ;  thirdly, 
that  of  Cause  and  Effect.  Every  one  who  has  ever 
seriously  reflected  on  the  operations  of  his  own  mind, 
will  be  prepared  to  acknowledge  that  it  has  the  power 
and  the  inclination  to  notice  these  various  relations. 
We  could  show  that  the  faculties  which  discover  them 
may  be  found,  under  one  name  or  other,  in  almost  every 
treatise  on  mental  science  written  in  modern  times.  By 
the  first  class  of  faculties  we  are  able  to  separate  the  com- 
plex objects  which  fall  under  our  notice  into  parts  ;  by 
the  second,  we  discover  the  varied  points  in  respect  of 
which  the  objects  around  us  correspond  ;  by  the  third,  we 
can  connect  the  present  with  the  past  and  the  future. 
By  the  first,  we  can,  in  some  measure,  penetrate  into  the 
composition  of  the  objects  by  which  we  are  surrounded  ; 
by  the  second,  we  see  how  objects  are  related  to  others 
existing  at  the  same  time — how  plant,  for  example,  is 
related  to  plant,  and  animal  to  animal ;  by  the  third,  how 
the  past  has  produced  the  present,  and  how  the  present 
will  produce  the  future.  By  the  first  we  have  our  ab- 
stract notions  ;  by  the  second,  our  general  notions  ;  by 
the  third,  our  notions  of  causal  relations. 

Before  proceeding  to  illustrate  them  individually,  we 
would  have  it  observed  regarding  them  generally,  that 
each  has  an  aptitude  and  a  tendency  to  seek  and  to  find 
the  relations  which  it  is  its  function  to  discover.     We 


452  THE    FACULTIES 

believe  that  there  is  a  tendency  in  every  faculty,  with  . 
which  man  is  endowed,  to  operate,  and  that  there  is  a 
pleasure  attached  to  the  exercise  of  it.  The  eye  having 
the  power  to  see,  delights  to  he  employed  in  seeing, 
and  light  is  pleasant  to  the  eyes.  There  is  a  similar 
enjoyment  felt  in  the  action  of  all  the  mental  powers. 
In  particular,  there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  all  the 
faculties  under  consideration,  to  exercise  themselves,  and 
an  enjoyment  in  their  exercise.  We  have  not  only  a 
desire  to  know  individual  things  as  they  present  them- 
selves, we  have  a  propensity  to  discover  relations  subsist- 
ing between  them.  When  any  new  object  falls  under  our 
view,  the  question  forthwith  presents  itself,  How  is  it  re- 
lated to  other  objects  known  to  us  ?  On  noticing  any 
concrete  or  complex  object,  there  is  a  strong  intellectual 
tendency  in  our  minds  to  analyze  it,  to  take  it  to  pieces. 
If  it  be  a  city  or  island  that  is  brought  under  our  notice, 
we  immediately  ask  in  what  part  of  the  world,  in  what 
country  or  ocean  it  is  situated.  If  it  be  a  new  plant  or 
animal  that  is  submitted  to  us,  we  ask  what  is  its  genus  or 
species.  As  strong  as  any  of  these,  is  that  which  we  feel 
on  witnessing  a  strange  phenomenon,  to  ascertain  its 
cause.  Let  us  look  at  these  faculties  with  the  view  of 
ascertaining  how  far  they  are  fitted  to  enable  us  to  com- 
prehend the  laws  of  nature. 

I.  The  Faculty  which  discovers  the  relation  of 
Whole  and  Parts  ;  in  other  words,  the  Faculty  of  Ab- 
straction and  Analysis. 

When  we  iook  abroad  on  this  world,  we  find  it,  as  a 
whole,  presenting  a  very  complicated  appearance  ;  it  is  a 
mighty  maze,  though  not  without  a  plan.  When  we  in- 
spect individual  objects,  we  find  them  all  more  or  less 
complex.     Almost  all  the  natural  substances  we  meet 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       453 

with  in  the  world  arc  compound.  Air,  water,  earth,  and 
fire,  which  were  regarded  by  the  ancients  as  elements, 
have  been  shown  to  he  composites.  This  piece  of  mag- 
netized iron  has  a  magnetic  property,  hence  it  will  turn 
to  the  pole  ;  it  has  a  gravitating  power,  hence  it  falls  to 
the  ground  if  unsupported  ;  it  reflects  certain  rays  of 
light,  hence  its  colour  ;  it  has  certain  chemical  proper- 
ties, and  hence  it  will  chemically  combine  with  one  sub- 
stance and  not  with  another.  What  a  vast  number  of 
powers  of  attraction,  of  chemical  affinity,  of  electricity 
and  vitality,  are  in  action  in  every  organism  that  falls 
under  our  eye  ! 

As  the  objects  which  thus  press  themselves  upon  our 
observation  are  so  complex,  we  see  how  needful  it  is 
to  have  a  power  of  separating  a  part  from  a  whole  in 
mental  contemplation.  But  this  is  a  power  possessed  in 
a  lower  or  a  higher  degree  by  every  human  being.  On 
a  complex  whole  being  brought  before  the  mind,  it  feels 
a  pleasure  in  dividing  it  into  its  parts,  and  tracing  the 
relation  of  the  parts  to  the  whole.  It  is  to  this  principle, 
in  part,  that  we  must  refer  the  tendency  of  children  to 
take  their  toys  to  pieces  ;  it  is  in  order  to  discover  all 
the  parts,  and  how  they  are  connected  with  one  another. 
On  seeing  an  ingenious  machine,  we  have  a  strong  inch- 
nation  all  our  lives  to  have  its  parts  taken  asunder,  that 
we  may  see  how  they  co-operate.  We  feel  it  to  be  pain- 
ful to  stop  in  the  midst  of  an  important  problem,  or 
theorem,  or  discussion,  or  process  ;  we  are  anxious  to 
know  how  it  may  issue.  We  feel,  indeed,  as  if  our 
knowledge  of  objects  must  be  very  obscure  till  we  have 
taken  it  down  and  resolved  it  into  its  elements,  till  we 
have  logically  divided  it,  or  physically  partitioned  it. 
We  feel  as  if  we  required  to  count  over  our  wealth  in 
order  to  estimate  its  value  aright,  to  travel  over  our  pro- 


454  THE    FACULTIES 

perty,  field  by  field,  in  order  to  know  how  much  is  com- 
prised in  it. 

This  mental  power  deserves  to  be  noticed  by  us,  be- 
cause it  furnishes  an  example  of  the  adaptation  of  the 
mind  to  the  objects  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  and  which 
it  is  called  to  investigate.  In  consequence  of  the  com- 
plication of  nature,  all  science  must  begin  with  analysis. 
"  But  induction,"  says  Bacon,  "  which  will  be  useful  in 
the  invention  and  demonstration  of  arts  and  sciences, 
ought  to  divide  nature  by  proper  rejections  and  exclu- 
sions." "  Analysis,"  says  Whately,  "  is  the  form  in  which 
the  first  invention  or  discovery  of  any  kind  of  system 
must  originally  have  taken  place."  We  have  thus,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  need  of  such  an  aptitude,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  tendency  working  strongly  and  sponta- 
neously. The  retort  in  the  laboratory  of  the  chemist  is 
not  more  obviously  an  instrument  for  decomposing  the 
substances  lying  around,  than  the  faculty  under  conside- 
ration is  for  decomposing  the  complex  structure  of  the 
world  in  its  parts,  so  as  to  bring  them  under  scientific 
observation  and  experiment,  and  thus  render  their  rela- 
tion intelligible  by  the  intelligent  nature  of  man. 

II.  The  Faculties  which  discover  the  relations 
or  Resemblance  and  Difference  ;  in  other  words,  the 
Comparative  Faculties. 

When  a  resemblance  is  discovered,  it  is  between  two 
or  more  objects  in  respect  of  certain  attributes.  This 
class  of  faculties  may  be  subdivided  according  to  the 
qualities  in  respect  of  which  the  agreement  is  noticed, 
whether  they  be  those  of  Space,  of  Time,  of  Quality,  or 
Active  Property. 

(1.)  The  Faculty  which  discovers  the  Belations  of 
Space,  or,  in  other  words,  of  Locality  and  Form. — 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE)        455 

There  is  a  tendency  in  all  minds,  and  a  very  strong  ten- 
dency in  some  minds,  to  discover  spatial  relations.  The 
commander  of  an  exploring  expedition  sent  to  the  Arctic 
regions,  reports  that  he  has  seen  a  hitherto  undiscovered 
portion  of  the  ocean  stretching  away  in  a  particular  di- 
rection, and  the  question  is  immediately  discussed,  How 
does  it  stand  related  to  the  parts  of  the  ocean  previously 
known  and  described  ?  A  star-gazer  reports  a  new  planet 
detected  by  the  telescope,  and  the  eager  question  is  put, 
What  is  its  orbit,  and  what  its  relation  to  the  orbit  of  the 
known  planets  ?  We  at  times  experience  a  painful  feel- 
ing because  we  cannot  discover  the  connexion  between 
two  localities.  We  are  carried  over  night,  let  us  sup- 
pose, from  a  district  of  country  which  is  known,  to 
another  which  is  entirely  unknown  to  us.  When  morn- 
ing dawns,  and  we  go  forth  to  survey  the  new  region 
our  first  inquiry  will  be,  How  is  it  located  in  reference  to 
the  region  which  we  left,  and  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted ?  We  know  that  some  persons  have  been  posi- 
tively distressed  till  they  found  out  the  relation  of  the 
two  localities,  that  into  which  they  have  been  carried,  and 
that  which  they  had  left.  The  naturalist  experiences  a 
similar  feeling  of  pain  mingled  with  his  joy,  on  discovering 
a  new  animal  or  plant  which  he  cannot  refer  to  its  typi- 
cal species  or  family.  There  is  the  plant  before  him,  he 
sees  its  form  and  all  its  parts  ;  and  what  more,  we  might 
be  tempted  to  ask,  could  he  wish  to  know  of  it  ?  But 
the  naturalist  is  not  satisfied,  he  feels  as  if  he  wanted 
something,  till  such  times  as  he  has  discovered  its  relation 
in  respect  of  shape  and  structure  to  other  natural  objects, 
and  has  been  able  to  allot  to  it  its  proper  place  in  the  clas- 
sification of  organic  objects. 

We  have  shewn,  in  the  second  book  of  this  Treatise, 
that  the  most  careful  regard  has  been  paid  to  the  rela- 


456  THE    FACULTIES 

tions  of  space  in  the  structure  of  the  universe.  The 
heavenly  bodies  have  definite  shapes  and  move  in  definite 
orbits.  Most  inorganic  objects  on  the  earth's  surface 
assume,  in  certain  circumstances,  a  regular  mathema- 
tical form.  Every  organic  object  has  a  typical  shape 
Every  kind  of  bird  builds  its  nest  according  to  a  plan  of 
its  own,  and  lays  an  egg  of  a  peculiar  size  and  shape. 
We  have  found  it  interesting  to  notice,  that  the  horns 
which  adorn  the  heads  of  certain  animals  have  a  sweep 
which  differs  in  every  family,  and  that  every  kind  of  tree 
has  its  own  curve  for  its  branch  and  leaf- vein,  and  the 
outline  of  its  coma  and  leaf.  Animals  have  been  arranged 
according  to  type  ever  since  the  days  of  Aristotle,  and 
the  latest  investigations  have  been  disclosing  new  relations 
of  form,  which  are  scientifically  named  homotypes  and 
homologues.  Morphology  is  now  acknowledged  to  be 
the  fundamental  department  of  botany,  and  opens  the 
way  to  every  other.  Locality  is  the  principle  to  be 
attended  to  by  those  who  would  study  the  geography  of 
plants  and  animals.  Kelative  position  is  the  governing 
principle  in  the  stratification  of  the  earth  and  the  bear- 
ing of  mountain  chains,  as  investigated  in  geology  and 
physical  geography.  But  we  have  now  seen  that  the 
mind  has  a  native  aptitude  to  observe  such  relations  as 
these.  The  two  thus  correspond,  as  a  formed  substance 
to  its  mould,  as  a  portrait  to  its  original.  It  is  an  eminent 
example  of  those  striking  adaptations  between  two  things 
having  no  necessary  connexion,  which  shew  that  both 
have  been  formed  by  an  Intelligent  Being,  who  fashioned 
the  one  to  be  contemplated  by  the  other. 

(2.)  The  Faculty  which  discovers  the  Relations  of 
Time. — There  is  a  natural  inclination  among  all  men  to 
notice  how  events  are  connected  in  respect  of  time,  and 
this  becomes,  in  the  case  of  many,  a  strong  and  vehement 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).        457 

passion.  On  hearing  an  incident  related,  When  did  it 
happen  ?  is  the  question  on  every  one's  lips.  On  some 
historical  event  being  disclosed  by  the  casting  up  of  a 
long-lost  record,  the  inquiry  is  instantly  made,  In  what 
age  did  it  occur  ?  Hence,  when  Lavard  dug  from  the 
mounds  in  which  they  had  long  been  concealed,  the 
marble  slabs  which  lined  the  palaces  of  ancient  Nineveh, 
there  was  instantly  awakened  an  intense  desire  to  know 
the  age  at  which  these  palaces  were  built,  and  the 
connexion  of  the  historical  events  represented  on  them 
with  the  known  events  of  Jewish  and  Egyptian  history. 
The  mind  of  the  historical  narrator  feels  in  a  state  of 
painful  anxiety  till  such  time  as  his  relation  shall  have 
been  discovered.  To  aid  this  faculty,  chronology  has 
fixed  on  certain  great  leading  events,  and  set  them  up  as 
landmarks.  Thus,  in  Sacred  History,  we  fix  on  the  Flood, 
on  the  call  of  Abraham,  the  Exodus  from  Egypt,  the 
Eeign  of  David,  and  the  Babylonish  Captivity,  and  dis- 
tribute all  other  incidents  in  the  intervening  periods.  To 
aid  this  same  aptitude,  we  have  artificial  chronometers, 
which  we  set  up  in  our  dwellings,  or  carry  about  our 
persons. 

Such  circumstances  as  these  prove  that  there  is  a 
strong  intellectual  tendency  on  the  part  of  mankind,  to 
observe  the  relations  of  time.  But  we  have  seen  in  pre- 
vious portions  of  this  Essay,  that  attention  is  evidently 
paid  to  Time  in  the  economy  of  natural  objects  and  the 
occurrence  of  natural  events.  The  heavenly  bodies  have 
their  definite  times  of  rotation  and  revolution.  Every 
organized  object  has  a  normal  age  allotted  to  it  for  its 
existence  on  earth.  There  is  a  periodical  return  of  days, 
and  months,  and  years,  which  admits  of  our  systemati- 
cally arranging  our  plans  and  anticipating  the  future. 
We  measure  the  ages  of  the  past  by  the  movements  of 

20 


458  THE    FACULTIES 

the  heavenly  bodies  and  the  epochs  of  geology.  Time  is 
thus  divided  for  us,  by  great  physical  events,  into  re- 
gular seasons,  and  all  that  we  may  number  our  days  and 
apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom.  The  connexion  between 
the  timepiece  on  earth  and  the  motion  of  the  sun  in  the 
heavens,  is  not  more  clear  than  is  the  relation  between 
man's  capacity  and  disposition  to  observe  time,  and  the 
wonderful  periodical  arrangements  which  everywhere  fall 
under  our  eye  in  nature. 

(3.)  The  Faculty  which  discovers  the  Relations  of 
Quantity. — These  are  equivalent  to  the  relations  of  pro- 
portion mentioned  by  Locke,  and  those  of  proportion  and 
degree  mentioned  by  Brown  ;  they  are  the  relations  of 
less  and  more.  The  faculty  which  discovers  them  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  knowledge  previously  acquired  by  the 
mind  of  individual  objects  ;  and  very  frequently,  also, 
upon  the  judgments  pronounced  by  the  other  faculties  of 
comparison.  Upon  discovering  that  objects  resemble 
each  other  in  respect  of  space,  time,  and  property,  we 
may  proceed  to  notice  how  they  have  less  or  more  of  the 
common  quality  in  respect  of  which  they  are  related. 
There  is  an  aptitude  in  all  minds,  and  a  very  strong 
aptitude  in  certain  minds,  of  a  mathematical  turn,  to 
observe,  to  search  for,  and  prosecute  these  relations.  We 
feel  as  if  our  ideas  of  objects  were  very  loose  and  inade- 
quate, till  we  have  made  some  sort  of  calculation  as  to 
their  number.  The  mind  delights  to  discover  numerical 
repetitions,  or  proportions,  or  cycles  among  the  objects 
foiling  under  its  notice  ;  hence  the  propensity  among  all 
nations  to  trace  significant  numbers  among  natural  phe- 
nomena, and  to  group  historical  events  into  periods  of 
three,  or  four,  or  seven,  or  ten,  or  forty,  or  a  hundred 
years.  This  talent,  running  waste,  has  wrought  out  the 
most  fanciful  and  extravagant  theories  as  to  the  power  of 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).        459 

numbers  ;  this  talent,  used  as  it  ought,  has  constructed 
branches  of  mathematics,  often  long  before  they  could  be 
turned  to  much  practical  account. 

But  we  have  shewn,  in  earlier  parts  of  this  work,  how 
much  attention  is  paid  throughout  the  whole  of  the  phy- 
sical universe  to  the  relations  of  number.  So  far  as  we 
can  go  down  to  the  elementary  construction  of  matter,  we 
find  numerical  proportions  appearing,  and,  as  we  ascend 
upwards  to  compound  and  organic  bodies,  we  still  find  a 
significance  in  numbers,  and  it  is  the  ambition  of  physi- 
cal science  to  reduce  all  its  laws  to  a  quantitative  expres- 
sion. The  circumstance  that  arithmetical  calculations 
and  geometrical  propositions  admit  of  such  an  extensive 
application  to  it  the  laws  and  structure  of  the  universe,  is 
a  clear  proof  that  quantity  is  one  of  the  principles  which 
impart  to  its  order  and  stability.  It  is  pleasant  to 
notice  that  He  who  hath  given  to  quantity  so  important 
a  place  in  the  structure  of  His  works,  hath  also  allotted 
to  the  faculty  which  takes  cognizance  of  it  an  equally 
high  place  in  the  constitution  of  man.  There  is  not  a 
more  obvious  correspondence  between  a  weighing  ma- 
chine and  the  goods  to  be  weighed  out  by  it,  between  a 
measuring  vessel  and  the  articles  to  be  measured  by  it, 
than  there  is  between  the  mental  capacity  to  discover  the 
relations  of  quantity,  and  the  significant  numbers  and 
proportions  which  everywhere  occur  in  nature. 

(4.)  The  Faculty  which  discovers  the  Relations  of 
Active  Property. — We  cannot,  as  it  appears  to  us,  know 
either  mind  or  matter,  except  as  exercising  properties. 
Mind  exists  "  only  as  it  energizes/'  In  looking  into  the 
soul  at  any  given  time,  we  find  it  ever  changing,  ever  busy. 
In  all  our  apprehensions  of  matter,  whether  original  or 
acquired,  it  is  known  as  moving  or  as  exercising  some 
active   quality  in   reference  to  us   or   to  other   objects. 


460  THE    FACULTIES 

Proceeding  on  this  original  knowledge,  we  are  impelled 
by  a  native  faculty  to  compare  the  various  active  opera- 
tions of  material  substance,  and  are  thus  enabled  to  dis- 
cover what  its  properties  are,  what  is  their  nature,  and 
their  rule.  As  we  detect  the  relations  between  the  vari- 
ous actions,  we  refer  one  set  of  them  to  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation, another  set  to  the  laws  of  chemical  affinity,  and  a 
third  set  to  the  vital  forces.  Taking  some  one  of  these, 
say  the  law  of  chemical  affinity,  we  proceed  to  farther 
distinctions  and  classifications,  and  we  arrange  substances 
into  groups  according  to  their  more  prominent  properties. 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  we  have  now  types  and 
homologies  of  a  deep  meaning  in  chemistry  as  well  as  in 
natural  history.  The  importance  of  the  mental  capacity 
under  consideration  is  greatly  magnified  by  the  discovery, 
in  our  day,  by  Mr.  Grove  and  others,  that  all  the  physical 
forces,  light,  heat,  chemical  action,  electricity,  galvanism, 
and  magnetism,  are  correlated,  and  have  mutual  actions 
and  re-actions. 

As  the  result  of  the  exercise  of  these  faculties  of  com- 
parison, we  have — 

Generalization. — The  number  of  particulars  pre- 
sented to  our  notice  in  the  world,  if  they  cannot  be 
described,  with  Plato,  as  infinite,  may  at  least  be  said  to 
be  innumerable,  and  the  mind  would  feel  itself  distracted 
were  it  obliged  to  carry  them  about  with  it ;  and  so  says 
Locke — "To  shorten  its  way  to  knowledge,  and  make 
<3ach  perception  more  comprehensive,  the  mind  binds 
them  into  bundles."  In  doing  so,  it  notices  how  certain 
objects  are  alike  in  this  respect,  that  they  possess  certain 
attributes  in  common  ; — they  are  of  the  same  shape,  or 
they  are  spread  over  the  same  time,  or  they  are  alike  in 
respect  of  number,  or  they  are  of  the  same  colour,  or 
have  some  other  property  in  common.     The  things  thus 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       461 

resembling  each  other,  thus  correlated,  are  put  into  a 
group  or  class,  which  will  include  an  indefinite  number 
of  other  objects,  indeed  all  others  possessing  the  common 
attribute  or  attributes.  "To  be  of  a  sort,"  says  Dr. 
Thomas  Keid,  "implies  having  those  attributes  which 
characterize  the  sort,  and  are  common  to  all  the  indivi- 
duals which  belong  to  it.  There  cannot,  therefore,  be  a 
sort  without  general  attributes,  nor  can  there  be  any  con- 
ception of  a  sort  without  a  conception  of  those  general 
attributes  which  distinguish  it." 

There  is  a  strong  disposition  in  all  minds  to  notice 
the  agreement  of  objects,  and  to  give  a  unity  to  the 
many,  by  assorting  them  into  groups  ;  and  in  the  case 
of  some,  and  these  usually  the  minds  of  noblest  mould, 
it  becomes  a  strong  passion.  "  This  impulse  of  the 
human  mind  to  generalize,"  this  "  inductive  propensity," 
as  Sir  John  Herschel  calls  it,  is  a  characteristic  of  the 
higher  scientific  intellects  which  often,  indeed,  carry  it 
too  far;  still,  as  Bacon,  who  warns  them  against  these 
excesses,  remarks,  "  those  who  are  sublime  and  discursive 
put  together  even  the  most  subtle  and  general  resem- 
blances." 

There  is  thus,  on  the  one  hand,  a  tendency  in  the 
human  mind  to  observe  relations,  and  especially  resem- 
blances, and  by  them  to  group  objects  into  classes.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  phenomena  around  us  have  many 
and  comprehensive  relations  one  towards  another,  afford- 
ing befitting  exercise  to  the  intellectual  faculty,  and  invit- 
ing it  to  dispose  all  individuals  into  systems,  and  connect 
all  nature  into  series.  Among  all  natural,  but  especially 
amono-  all  organic  objects,  there  are  groups  or  classes 
formed,  altogether  independent  of  a  mind  to  observe 
them.  There  arc  species  and'  genera,  and  orders  and 
kingdoms — there    are    homotypes    and    homologues    in 


462  THE    FACULTIES 

nature,  whether  we  take  notice  of  them  or  no.  In  con- 
structing  natural  science,  we  are  not  to  create  classes  by 
an  exercise  of  our  own  ingenuity  ;  classes  are  already 
formed,  and  we  are  to  discover  and  not  invent  them.  In 
every  department  of  natural  science,  it  is  imperative  on 
us  to  look  to  the  natural  grouping.  An  arrangement 
which  does  not  proceed  upon  it,  however  ingeniously 
contrived,  may  be  characterized  as  artificial,  even  when 
it  is  not  denounced  as  arbitrary  and  capricious,  and  will 
seldom  turn  out  to  be  of  much  scientific  or  practical  value. 
But  when  the  naturalist  has  been  able  to  seize  the  dispo- 
sitions made  for  him  by  nature,  or  rather  by  the  Glod  of 
nature,  his  classifications  being  natural,  will  also  turn 
out  to  be  available  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  great 
number  and  variety  of  ends.  Every  character  in  such 
an  arrangement  will  be  significant,  that  is,  the  sign  of  a 
great  many  other  qualities  with  which  it  invariably  co- 
exists ;  and  the  arrangement  will  be  found  not  only  to 
be  convenient,  but  instructive  ;  not  only  aiding  the  me- 
mory in  retaining  what  we  know,  but  disclosing  other 
truths,  and  widening  immeasurably  the  boundaries  of  our 
knowledge. 

This  account  of  the  correspondence  between  the  classi- 
fying aptitude  of  the  mind  and  the  classes  in  nature,  is 
fitted  to  save  us  from  both  of  two  opposite  extremes.  It 
shews  us,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  mind  is  not  a  mere 
mirror,  reflecting  the  objects  passing  before  it  simply  as 
they  pass  before  it.  The  mind  brings  with  it  to  the 
investigation  high  capacities,  a  power  of  separating  the 
most  complex  objects  into  parts  for  more  especial  con- 
templation, of  discovering  resemblances  among  objects 
very  dissimilar  in  most  respects,  and  of  devising  hypo- 
theses to  account  for  the  phenomena  which  present 
themselves,  usually  in  the  most  scattered  manner  or  in 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       463 

most  singular  combinations.  The  relations  which  unite 
the  objects  in  nature  are  often  of  the  most  recondite  cha- 
racter, and  it  requires  the  very  sharpest  subtlety  to  bring 
them  forth  to  view,  and  the  highest  invention  to  propose 
the  truth  which  is  to  solve  the  enigma.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  are.  never  to  look  on  the  mind,  in  the  con- 
struction of  science,  as  creating  laws  which  are  not  in 
nature  itself.  Dr.  Whewell  everywhere  speaks  of  the 
mind,  in  scientific  inquiry,  as  "  superinducing"  upon  the 
facts,  "  from  its  own  ideas,"  something  that  is  not  in  the 
facts.  "  The  facts  are  known,  but  they  are  insulated  and 
unconnected,  till  the  discoverer  supplies,  from  his  own 
stores,  a  Principle  of  Connexion.  The  pearls  are  there, 
but  they  will  not  hang  together  till  some  one  provides 
the  string."*  To  us  it  appears  that  the  true  statement 
rather  is,  that  the  mind  is  so  constituted  as  to  be  able — ■ 
which  is  often  very  difficult — to  discern  all  that  is  in  the 
facts.  The  law  is  in  the  facts,  whether  we  observe  it  or 
no,  but  it  often  requires  much  trained  sagacity  to  detect 
it.  True,  the  class  cannot  with  propriety  be  said  to  be 
in  the  individual  phenomena  ;  it  is  the  law  of  a  large 
body  of  phenomena  which  have  an  aggregate  of  common 
qualities,  each  one  of  which  is  a  sign  of  all  the  others. 
We  have  in  nature  not  only  the  "  pearls,"  but  the 
"  string,"  otherwise  they  would  not  hang  together  as  they 
do  ;  but  the  string  is  often  of  a  very  subtle  nature,  and  only 
to  be  discovered  by  the  most  penetrating  intellect.  The 
account  which  we  have  given  shews  us,  on  the  other  hand, 
how  vain  all  attempts  must  be  to  reach  the  secrets  of  na- 
ture by  a  priori  cogitation.  The  mind,  in  its  widest  range, 
is  a  creature,  not  a  creator ;  it  is  cognitive,  and  not  crea- 
tive. It  has  an  eye  fitted  to  see ;  but  if  that  eye  will  go 
beyond  its  office,  and  produce  what  is  not  to  be  seen,  that 

*  "Whewell's  Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  vol.  ii.  p.  4S.    Sec  also  Aph.  xi. 


4:64  THE    FACULTIES 

which  is  thus  conjured  up  will  he  a  phantom,  an  illusion, 
deceiving  the  eye  which  created  it.  True,  it  can  devise, 
and  ought  to  devise  hypotheses,  hut  it  should  only  he  to 
Drin<r  them  to  the  test  of  facts.  It  has  faculties  which 
often  enable  it  to  make  shrewd  guesses  and  long- 
sighted anticipations,  hut  these  are  to  he  regarded  as 
chimerical,  unless  they  are  in  conformity  with  realities. 
The  beauty  of  the  correspondence  between  the  internal 
faculty  and  the  external  object  lies  in  this,  that  the  fa- 
culty can  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  object  with  its 
subtle  qualities  and  its  far-ranging  relations. 

Three  great  truths  are  now  before  us:— First,  all 
things  are  conformable  to  a  law  of  order :  Secondly,  man 
has  mental  principles  and  powers  which  enable  him  to 
trace  and  apprehend  this  order  :  Thirdly,  he  can  discover 
the  order  only  by  a  careful  induction  of  facts.  The  laws 
exist  in  the  things,  otherwise  man  could  not  find  them, 
he  would  simply  feign  them,  and  there  would  be  no  cor- 
res]3ondence  between  his  inward  cogitations  and  the 
external  world.  Science  is  not  the  creation  of  human 
reason  ;  it  is  simply  the  exposition  of  a  rational  sys- 
tem, which  proceeds  from  the  Divine  Reason.  Newton 
did  not  make  nature  rational,  he  found  it  rational ;  and 
his  system  was  rational,  because  the  expression  of  ra- 
tional laws.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  must  be  human 
reason  discovering  the  traces  of  Divine  Eeason  in  nature. 
Nature,  as  nature,  is  unconscious  of  its  rational  charac- 
ter. Its  phenomena  are  usually  so  involved,  one  with 
another,  that  it  requires  the  very  highest  reason  to  un- 
ravel their  threads,  and  follow  each  to  its  separate  source. 
The  scattered  events  assume  a  scientific  form,  not  as 
they  present  themselves  to  the  empirical  observer,  but 
when  subjected  to  analysis  and  generalized  by  human 
intelligence.     But  the   intellect,  all  the  while,  dare  not, 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       465 

except  at  the  peril  of  being  hopelessly  lost,  set  itself 
above  observation ;  it  can  merely  act  upon  what  it 
observes,  and  its  most  comprehensive  laws  are  inductions 
from  experience. 

Profound  thinkers,  in  all  ages,  have  observed  some  one 
or  other  of  these  truths,  but  have  too  frequently  dis- 
severed it  from  its  connexion  with  the  rest.  There  was 
a  truth  shadowed  forth  by  the  ancient  Pythagorean 
doctrine  of  numbers,  and  the  music  of  the  spheres  :  God's 
works  have  a  numerical  order,  and  are  formed,  as  was 
fabled  of  ancient  Thebes,  by  the  power  of  harmony, 
Plato  bodied  forth  a  great  truth  in  his  Eternal  Ideas, 
which  had  been  in  or  before  the  Divine  mind  from  all 
eternity,  and  to  which  as  patterns,  all  things  in  heaven 
and  earth  are  conformed.  Aristotle  saw  that  there  was 
not  a  little  mysticism  in  these  lofty  speculations  of  his 
master,  and  so  rejected  some  of  his  views,  but  retained 
the  grand  central  truth,  under  the  nomenclature  of 
Forms,  which  are  as  necessary  as  matter  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  universe.  Plato  is  right  when  he  speaks  of 
Ideas  being  in  the  Divine  mind  prior  to  their  exhibition 
in  sensible  objects.  Plato  is  in  the  right,  too,  when 
he  represented  sensible  objects,  which  are  ephemeral,  as 
being  constituted  after  eternal  models.  Herein,  too, 
Plato  was  farther  right  when  he  talked  of  these  ideas 
being,  in  a  sense,  in  human  intelligence,  and  requiring 
only  to  be  called  forth.  Herein,  too,  Aristotle  was  right 
and  Plato  was  wrong,  for  these  ideas  are  not  to  be 
awakened  by  inward  cogitation,  as  the  great  master 
taught,  but  by  the  induction  of  particulars,  as  the  equally 
illustrious  pupil  affirmed.  Even  in  the  scholastic  ages, 
all  artificial  though  the  minds  of  scholars  had  become, 
by  a  too  exclusively  formal  training,  there  was  a  profound 
truth  retained  by  those  who  set  forth  the  doctrine  of 
20* 


4-66  THE   FACULTIES 

genera,  species  and  universals,  as  having  an  existence  in 
nature  prior  to.  and  in  a  sense  above  the  ephemeral  ex- 
istence of  individual  things  ;  for  while  the  individual 
lily  and  rose  perish,  the  species  abide,  and  are  exhibited 
in  new  roses  and  lilies  bursting  forth  every  spring  and 
summer.  But  these  speculations  were,  after  all,  one- 
sided and  imperfect,  till  Bacon  supplied  the  complemen- 
tary truth  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  the  others,  and, 
passing  far  beyond  Aristotle,  unfolded  the  very  process  by 
which  man  might  certainly  discover  the  laws,  and,  as  he 
hoped,  the  "  forms"  of  nature,  which  he  represents  as 
the  fin  .1  aim  of  all  observation  and  all  science.  Herein, 
too,  the  physical  inquirers  who  profess  to  follow  Bacon 
are  in  the  right  when  they  declare  that  man  must  collect 
facts,  in  order  to  know  the  law  of  the  facts.  But  the 
great  German  schoolman,  Emanual  Kant,  is  no  less  in 
the  right  when  he  recalled  the  modern  mind  to  the  sub- 
jective laws  necessary  to  enable  us  to  find  the  objective 
order.  And  herein,  too,  that  great  but  presumptuous 
thinker  erred  in  supposing  that  the  subjective  mind 
created  the  symphonies  which  it  was  created  to  discover 
and  unfold  ;  and  these  errors  of  his  opened  the  way  to 
the  airy  speculations  which  later  German  metaphysicians 
devised  in  order  to  turn  the  correspondence  between  the 
inward  and  the  outward  into  an  identity.  In  our 
own  country,  in  the  present  age,  there  is  an  uneasy 
clashing  between  the  German  metaphysics  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  empiricism  of  the  French  physicists  on 
the  other,  and  our  thinking  youth  are  ever  swinging,  like 
the  pendulum,  past  the  point  of  rest. 

There  is  a  Mundus  Sensibilis  and  a  Mundus  Intelli- 
gibilis,  and  the  relation  in  which  they  stand  to  each 
other  seems  to  be  as  follows.  To  us  there  is  first  the 
Mundus  Sensibilis,  and   this   when  human  intelligence 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).        467 

contemplates  it,  becomes  the  Mundus  Intelligibilis.  But 
when,  things  are  considered  in  themselves,  the  order,  as 
Aristotle  showed  long  ago,  is  reversed  ;  to  us  there  is 
first  the  particular,  and  then  the  general  ;  in  the  order 
of  things,  however,  there  is  first  the  general,  and  then  the 
particular.  There  is  first  the  Mundus  Intelligibilis  in 
the  mind  of  the  eternal  Logos  ;  this,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  becomes  the  Mundus  Sensibilis,  (in  a  sense  the 
word  becomes  flesh,)  which  is  once  more  reproduced  as 
the  Mundus  Intelligibilis,  in  the  mind  of  intelligent 
creation.  We  are  reminded  that  in  redemption  there  is 
a  similar  development.  In  the  History  of  man  there  is 
first  the  earthly,  and  then  the  spiritual.  But  in  the 
counsels  of  the  Godhead  there  is  first  the  Eternal  Word  ; 
then  the  Eternal  Word  becoming  Flesh  ;  and  finally, 
the  Eternal  Word  reproducing  himself  in  the  sanctified 
humanity  of  the  Eedeemed. 

III.  The  Faculty  which  discovers  the  Relation 
of  Cause  and  Effect. 

Every  one  will  acknowledge  that  man  has  a  capacity 
and  tendency  to  observe  this  relation.  On  a  new  event 
being  brought  under  the  notice,  the  mind  immediately 
inquires,  What  is  its  cause  ?  A  house  is  seen  to  be  on 
fire,  and  the  question  on  every  one's  lips  is,  How  was  it 
ignited  !  We  hear  of  the  death  of  a  friend,  and  our 
natural  impulse  is  to  ask,  What  was  the  disease  which 
cut  him  off  ?  When  it  can  not  discover  the  cause  of  any 
important  event,  the  mind  feels  pained  and  distressed. 
There  are  certain  historical  events,  the  producing  cir- 
cumstances of  which  have  not  been  found  out,  and  there 
is  a  renewed  attempt  to  discover  them  in  every  suc- 
ceeding age.  There  are  physical  phenomena  the  causes 
of  which  are  unknown,  and  again  and  again  do  scientific 


468  THE    FACULTIES 

inquirers  return  to  the  investigation,  Lent  on  unveiling 
the  mystery. 

There  is  a  power  exercised  in  the  performance  of  the 
ordinary  duties  of  life,  and  it  is  the  faculty  required 
above  all  others  by  the  philosopher,  and  this  whatever  be 
his  particular  walk,  whether  in  abstract  speculation,  in 
history,  science,  or  the  fine  arts.  The  ordinary  investi- 
gator is  satisfied  when  he  can  find  an  answer  to  the 
question,  What  is  it  ?  When  it  can  be  answered  that  it 
is  so  and  so,  he  is  contented.  But  it  is  different  with  the 
philosopher.  When  this  question  is  answered,  he  has 
another  to  put — Sow  is  it  so  and  so  ?  He  is  not  satis- 
fied with  knowing  the  What,  he  must  also  know  the 
How.  An  answer  to  the  second  of  these  inquiries  can 
be  furnished  only  by  the  faculty  under  consideration, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  the  loftiest,  and  most  far- 
ranging  of  all  our  intellectual  powers.  It  enables  us 
from  the  effects  now  visible  to  go  back  to  the  causes  of 
these  effects,  and  the  causes  of  these  causes,  into  a  distant 
past,  and  from  the  causes  now  in  operation  to  anticipate 
the  effects  of  these  causes,  and  the  effects  of  these  effects, 
on  to  a  distant  future. 

As  this  faculty  has  an  important  place  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  human  mind,  on  the  one  hand,  so  it  is  found 
on  the  other  hand,  that  all  the  events,  both  of  the  mental 
and  material  world,  obey  the  law  of  cause  and  effect. 
Our  mental  anticipations  or  expectations  are  ever  found 
to  be  realized  ;  they  are  realized  in  our  familiar  experi- 
ence ;  they  are  also  realized  in  the  most  remote  ages 
and  worlds  of  which  we  can  obtain  any  knowledge.  As 
far  as  geology  carries  us  back,  it  shews  us  effects  of 
causes  then,  as  still,  in  operation  ;  as  far  as  the  tele- 
scope carries  us  out  into  space,  it  shows  light  obeying 
the  same  laws  as  it  does  in  our  own  mundane  system. 


■WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       469 

In  order  to  arrive  at  such  a  conclusion,  it  is  not  needful 
fc«>  determine  very  precisely  the  nature  of  the  mental  ca- 
pacity which  prompts  us,  on  discovering  an  event,  to  look 
for  its  cause.  All  that  is  necessary  for  our  argument  is, 
that  the  talent  and  inclination  be  regarded  as  native,  and 
this  it  shows  itself  to  he  by  its  universal  operation,  and 
its  constant  craving.  The  majority  of  thinkers  deserving 
the  name  of  philosophers,  have  regarded  the  mental 
principle  as  not  only  an  original  capacity  and  disposition 
of  the  mind,  but  as  a  fundamental  law  of  the  intelligence, 
which  insists  not  only  that  all  effects  known  to  us  have  in 
fact  had  a  cause,  but  that  every  given  effect  must  have  had 
a  cause.  This  view  seems  to  us  to  be  the  correct  repre- 
sentation. On  the  discovery  of  any  particular  effect  the 
mind  is  led  intuitively  to  look  for  a  cause.*  This  is  not  a 
principle  gathered  from  experience,  it  is  rather  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  we  proceed  in  gathering  experience.  Some 
may  say  that  having  invariably  observed  that  every  event 
has  had  a  cause,  we  generalize  our  experience,  and  con- 
clude that  every  effect  has  had  a  cause.  But  the  infer- 
ence would  by  no  means  be  legitimate.  Suppose  our 
experience  to  be  that  we  had  seen  a  spark  ignite  gun- 
powder one  hundred  times,  there  would  be  a  mighty  gap 
between  this  and  the  conclusion  that  it  must  do  so  the  one 
hundred  and  first  time,  and  the  one  thousandth  time,  and 
so  on  for  ever.  A  finite,  though  it  be  a  uniform  experi- 
ence, cannot  authorize  us  to  rise  to  a  universal  and  ne- 
cessary truth.  The  experience  of  all  civilized  men  for 
ages,  that  swans  are  white,  did  not  entitle  them  to  argue 

*  We  put  the  axiom  In  tins  form,  because  we  do  not  believe  that  causation  vises  up 
Instinctively  in  the  mind  as  an  abstract  or  general  notion,  or  that  it  is  consciously  before 
(ho  mind  as  a  general  axiom  or  principle;  it  is  in  the  mind  simply  as  a  law  of  its  opera- 
tion leading  it,  on  an  individual  eifect  being  presented,  to  seek  a  cause.  (See  Method  of 
Divine  Government,  4th  edit.  p.  508,  and  Appendix.)  The  objections  current  in  England 
against  original  mental  principles,  apply  merely  to  certain  extravagant  doctrines  about 
lunate,  or  a  priori  ideas. 


470  THE    FACULTIES 

that  all  swans  are  white,  and  must  he  white,  and  accord- 
ingly there  was  nothing  inconsistent  with  previous  ex- 
perience in  the  discovery  of  black  swans  in  Australia. 
All  human  experience  shows  that  crows  are  black,  yet 
there  is  no  law  of  our  mental  nature  leading  us  to  be- 
lieve that  crows  must  be  black  in  the  planets  Juno  or 
Jupiter.  But  it  is  very  different  with  the  belief  in  causa- 
tion, (as  we  have  explained  it  above  ;)  there  is  something 
in  our  very  intelligence  which  prevents  us  from  believing, 
or  so  much  as  thinking,  that  anywhere,  in  any  planet,  or 
sun,  or  star,  or  nebulous  matter,  there  can  be  an  event 
without  a  cause.  We  have  only  carefully  to  notice  the 
operations  of  this  native  principle,  to  find  that  there  is  a 
feeling  of  universality  and  necessity  attached  to  all  its 
exercises.  And  as  the  mind,  on  the  one  hand  anticipates 
and  expects  that  every  effect  must  have  a  cause,  so  it 
finds  on  the  other  hand,  in  its  experience,  that  all  things 
in  earth  and  heaven  are  in  unision  with  the  internal 
principles.  The  intuitive  expectation  has  ever  a  corre- 
spondence in  the  external  reality. 

The  account  which  we  have  given  of  the  intuitive 
belief,  shews  us  at  once  that  the  internal  principle  does 
not  entitle  us  to  proceed  in  the  investigation  of  nature 
by  a  priori  speculation.  For  while  intuition  impels  us 
on  the  discovery  of  an  effect  to  anticipate  a  cause,  it  does 
not  reveal  to  us  what  that  cause  is.  The  actual  cause 
must  be  detected  by  experience,  and  thus  we  are  thrown 
back  upon  induction  as  the  only  means,  after  all,  of 
penetrating  the  secrets  of  nature. 

Such,  then,  is  the  account  which  we  are  disposed  to 
give  of  the  relation  between  the  laws  of  our  intellectual 
nature  and  the  laws  of  the  external  world.  The  German 
metaphysicians  have  discovered  this  correspondence  be- 
tween the  subject  and  object,  as  they  express  it,  and  they 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       471 

have  often  dwelt  upon  it,  but  they  have  given,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  us,  a  mistaken  representation  of  it.     Some  of 
them  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  it  as  an  antithesis,  an 
antithesis  between  subject  and  object,  between  matter 
and  form,  between  ideas  and  experience.     They  are  very 
fund  of  comparing  it  (I  think  very  unhappily,  as  the  two 
are  very  different)  to  the  polar  forces  which  are  found 
to  operate  in  the  material  world,  and  they  call  the  one 
the  positive  and   the  other  the  negative   pole.     When 
thus  stated,  we  have  a  dualistic  view  of  nature.     But  a 
bolder  set  of  thinkers,  following  out  the  same  method, 
have  found  out  a  synthesis  to  reconcile  this  antithesis. 
Discovering  a  relation  between  the  two  poles,  they  have 
reduced  the  duality  to  a  unity,  and  resolved  all  things  up 
into  one  Absolute  Existence.     The  general  result  of  all 
this  heterogeneous  combination  proceeding  from  a  con- 
fusion of  thought,  is  a  hideous  pantheism,  in  which  the 
existence  of  God  is  affirmed,  but  His  existence  separate 
from  the  universe  is  denied.     These  speculators  would 
account  for  the  correspondence  between  the  internal  ope- 
ration and  the  outward  objects  by  supposing  them  to  be 
correlated   parts   of  one   whole.     Fichte  represents  the 
internal  power  as  creating  the  external  object,  which, 
according   to   our   view,    it   simply   observes.      Schelling 
conceives  them  to  be  necessarily  parallel  developments  of 
one  ethereal  essence  developing  itself,  whereas  they  ap- 
pear to  us  to  be  parellelisms  produced  by  Him  who  hath 
instituted  both.     Hegel  resolved  them  into  a  unity  of 
logical  forms,  whereas  they  are  one  simply  by  reason  of 
the  unity  of  the  Divine  Counsel.     We  must  return  to 
this  subject,  and  devote  a  separate  section  to  it.     These 
views,  under  whatever  form  they  may  appear,  and  how- 
ever   imposing    the    nomenclature    in   which   they   are 
clothed,   and   however   formidable   the   array  of  logical 


472  THE    FACULTIES 

forms  in  which  they  may  be  set  forth,  are  the  wandering's 
of  great  minds,  which  will  not  condescend  to  proceed  in 
the  method  of  induction,  and,  having  set  out  in  the 
wrong  way,  and  with  principles  not  carefully  inducted, 
are  going  the  faster  and  the  further  wrong,  the  quicker 
and  more  vigorous  their  march. 

There  is,  undoubtedly,  a  relation  between  the  internal 
and  external,  between  the  subjective  and  objective,  but 
it  is  not  a  relation  of  antithesis  but  correspondence  ;  and 
this  correspondence  is  to  be  traced,  not  to  any  identity, 
not  to  any  connexion  in  the  order  of  things,  not  to  any 
logical  connexion,  but  to  the  adaptation  of  the  one  to 
the  other  by  Him  who  hath  created  both,  and,  in  creat- 
ing both  hath  suited  the  one  to  the  other.  The  mind, 
as  the  contemplator,  is  so  constituted  as  to  be  able  to 
attain  a  knowledge  of  the  thing  contemplated,  and  the 
thing  contemplated  is  so  formed  as  to  suit  itself  to  the 
intellectual  nature  of  the  being  who  has  to  contemplate  it. 

There  is  here  a  correspondence  between  two  things,  so 
far  independent  in  themselves,  which  I  can  ascribe  only 
to  the  unity  of  design  on  the  part  of  Him  who  hath 
created  both,  and  given  to  each  its  nature  and  its  laws, 
and  these  in  exquisite  adaptation  the  one  to  the  other. 
We  can  conceive  a  world  without  any  such  correspon- 
dence, a  world  in  which  the  intellects  of  the  inhabitants 
might  have  no  capacity  to  discover  relations  among  the 
objects  falling  under  their  notice,  or  in  which  relations 
among  the  objects  might  in  no  way  correspond  to  their 
intellectual  aptitudes.  It  is  conceivable,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  the  relations  might  have  existed  in  all  their 
significance,  but  have  remained  unknown  characters — 
like  the  mysterious  wTritings  on  the  rocks  of  some  eastern 
countries,  which  no  living  man  can  read — in  consequence 
of  no  one  having  the  capacity  to  decipher  them  ;  it  is 


WHICH    DISCOVER    RELATIONS    (CORRELATIVE).       473 

conceivable,  on  the  other  hand,  there  might  have  been 
the  intellectual  power  and  inclinations,  and  yet  that  such 
relations  might  not  have  been  found  in  nature,  or  found 
only  to  show  that  they  are  of  no  significance.  In  the 
one  case,  there  would  have  been  an  inscription  without 
the  means  of  deciphering  it,  in  the  other,  a  key  with 
nothing  to  interpret  by  it.  In  the  co-existence  of  the 
two,  we  have,  on  the  one  hand,  a  power  of  reading  the 
symbols,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  wondrous  book  spread 
out  before  us  full  of  the  highest  instruction.  The  con- 
sequence to  man  is,  that  instead  of  being  a  stranger,  a 
wanderer,  and  an  outcast,  as  he  .must  have  been  in  a 
world  in  which  there  was  no  such  correspondence,  he 
feels  himself  to  be  so  far  at  home  in  every  domain  of 
nature,  with  faculties  fitted,  if  only  he  exercises  them  pro- 
perly, to  discover  those  laws  which  give  its  unity  and 
connexion  to  the  Cosmos,  and  help  him,  if  he  have  faith, 
upward  to  the  contemplation  of  Him  who  hath  insti- 
tuted them  in  an  all-comprehensive  wisdom.  "  This 
also  cometh  forth  from  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  wonder- 
ful in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  working." 

SECT.  III. THE   ASSOCIATION    OF    IDEAS. 

Every  one  has  an  easy  mode  of  satisfyiug  himself  that 
his  thoughts  do  not  succeed  each  other  at  random.  Let 
him,  by  an  act  of  reflective  memory,  go  back  upon  the 
ideas  which  have  passed  through  the  mind  in  any  given 
period  :  he  may  take  the  time  when  they  seem  the  most 
desultory  and  unconnected,  and  he  will  find  that  the  one 
has  led  on  the  other,  like  a  string  of  birds  floating  through 
the  air.  Or  let  him,  by  self-consciousness,  watch  the 
train  as  it  moves  along,  and  he  will  find  that  every 
thought  is  related  to  that  which  precedes  it,  not  by  a 


474  THE   ASSOCIATION   OF   IDEAS. 

material  bond,  like  the  carriages  on  a  railway,  but  still 
by  ties  which  can  be  discovered.  A  few  minutes  ago  he 
may  have  been  musing  on  home,  and  friends,  and  com- 
forts, but  now  his  thoughts  are  in  a  far  distant  land, 
wandering  amidst  extended  swamps,  and  burning  heat, 
and  fearful  malaria.  At  first  sight  it  might  seem  as  if 
there  could  be  no  possible  relation  between  the  two  men- 
tal states  :  it  might  look  as  if  the  mind  had  leapt  from 
the  one  region  to  the  other  without  an  intermediate  step. 
But  he  has  only  to  recall  the  whole  train  to  discover  that 
there  has  been  a  continuous  transition  from  the  one  to 
the  other.  He  was  meditating  on  home  and  friends  ; 
but  one  of  those  friends  has  been  called  away  from  this 
world,  he  went  to  a  distant  land  to  earn  an  honourable 
independence,  and  there  he  fell  a  prey  to  an  unwholesome 
climate  produced  by  heat  and  damps.  And  suppose  that 
he  allow  this  last  thought  to  run  on  in  its  natural  course, 
he  may  find  it  carrying  him  up  to  the  heavens,  there  to 
indulge  in  meteorological  speculations,  and  these  sug- 
gesting scientific  principles,  which  bring  him  back  to  his 
own  land  and  to  his  younger  years,  when  he  was  first 
made  acquainted  with  these  principles,  and  to  the  very 
friends  of  his  youth,  and  the  home  whence  he  started  on 
his  wide  excursion.  Throughout  the  whole  of  this  cir- 
cuit, every  thought  has  been  in  some  way  related  to  that 
which  has  gone  before,  and  to  that  which  has  come  after. 
We  owe  to  Aristotle  the  first  attempt  to  classify  the 
relations  according  to  which  our  mental  states  succeed 
each  other.  According  to  the  usual  interpretation  of  his 
language,  he  represents  our  thoughts  as  associated  by 
similarity,  by  contrast,  and  by  contiguity.*     To  discuss 


*  According  to  Sir  William  Hamilton,  (see  Note  D**  appended  to  his  edition  of  Eeid.) 
Aristotle  first  announces  one  universal  law,  and  then  three  subordinate  ones.  The  one 
universal  law  is :  Thoughts  which  have  at  one  time,  recent  or  remote,  stood  io  each  othei 


THE    ASSOCIATION    OF    IDEAS.  475 

the  various  theories  which  have  been  propounded  since 
his  days,  would  carry  us  into  very  irrelevant  matter. 
Without  entering  upon  any  subtleties  or  disputed  points, 
we  take  up  the  associations  of  thought  in  the  two  forms 
in  which  they  present  themselves  most  obviously  to  our 
view,  that  of  Repetition  and  that  of  Correlation. 

In  Repetition,  a  thought  is  followed  by  the  very  same 
thought  with  which  it  was  previously  associated.  Thus, 
on  the  first  line  of  a  song  with  which  we  are  familiar 
being  recited,  the  mind  is  apt  to  run  through  the  whole. 
This  is  the  simplest  and  lowest  form  of  the  associative 
power.  It  is  apt  to  be  strongest  in  children,  who  are 
able,  in  consecruence,  to  repeat  what  they  have  heard  or 
read  more  readily  than  persons  farther  advanced  in  life, 
and  whose  thoughts  are  disposed  to  obey  a  higher  law  of 
succession.  For  there  is  a  higher  form  assumed  by  men- 
tal association,  less  or  more,  in  all  minds,  but  most  of  all 
in  minds  possessed  of  firmer  intellectual  grasp.  Things 
between  which  there  has  been  a  relation  discovered  may 
suggest  each  other.  No  matter  what  the  relation  has 
been,  whether  one  of  those  mentioned  by  Aristotle  or  any 
others,  it  ever  afterwards  combines  the  things  correlated 
in  our  minds,  and  the  one  tends  to  bring  up  the  other. 
This  is  law  of  Correlation. 

We  have  already  given  what  appears  to  us  to  be,  upon 
the  whole,  the  best  classification  of  the  relations  which 
the  human  mind  can  discover.  It  can  discover,  wre  have 
said,  the  relation  of  comprehension — that  is,  of  the  whole 
to  its  parts,  and  of  the  parts  to  the  whole.  Now,  when- 
ever such  a  relation  has  been  noticed,  the  part  will  sug- 

in  the  relation  of  co-existence  or  immediate  consecution,  <Io,  when  severally  reproduced, 
tend  to  reproduce  each  other.  This  is  explained  by  Hamilton  as  meaning:  The  parts 
of  any  total  thought,  when  subsequently  called  into  consciousness,  are  apt  to  suggest 
immediately  the  parts  to  which  they  are  proximately  related,  and  mediately  the  whole 
of  which  they  wore  co-constituents. 


476  THE   ASSOCIATION    OF   IDEAS. 

gest  the  whole,  and  the  whole  the  part  ;  the  substance 
will  suggest  the  quality,  and  the  quality  the  substance  ; 
the  book  will  suggest  certain  of  its  contents,  and  certain 
of  its  contents  will  suggest  the  book  ;  the  sentence  will 
suggest  its  words,  and  its  words  the  sentence  ;  a  building 
will  suggest  some  of  the  things  contained  in  it,  such  as 
its  doors  and  windows,  while  the  doors  and  windows  will 
call  up  the  house.  Again,  the  mind  has  the  power  of 
discovering  resemblances  among  objects  ;  and  when  a 
similarity,  whether  in  respect  of  form,  time,  number,  or 
property,  has  been  detected  between  two  things,  the  one 
will  bring  up  the  other.  If  a  resemblance  has  been  dis- 
covered between  certain  plants,  or  certain  animals,  or 
certain  seasons,  or  certain  substances,  henceforth  the 
presentation  of  the  one  may  lead  on  to  the  thought  of 
the  others.  The  mind  has  also  the  power  of  discovering 
the  relation  of  causality,  and  it  is  well  known  that  the 
cause  suggests  the  effect,  and  the  effect  the  cause  ;  a 
wound  suggests  the  instrument  that  inflicted  it,  and  a 
warlike  instrument  is  apt  to  be  associated  with  its  mur- 
derous effects  ;  and  so  the  Quaker  poet  sings — 

"I  hate  the  drum's  discordant  sound 
Parading  round,  and  round,  and  round, 
To  me  it  talks  of  ravaged  plains, 
And  burning  towns,  and  ruin'd  swains, 
And  mangled  limbs,  and  dying  groans, 
And  widows'  tears,  and  orphans'  moans, 
And  all  that  misery's  hand  bestows 
To  fill  the  catalogue  of  human  woes." 

If  there  is  any  truth  in  these  remarks,  we  may  notice 
the  following  interesting  relationships  : — 

1.  The  intellectual  powers  are  ever  furnishing  bonds 
of  association  to  our  ideas.  The  mind  is  for  ever  actively 
employed  in  discovering  relations   among  objects  pre- 


THE   ASSOCIATION   OF   IDEAS.  477 

sented  to  it  by  the  senses,  or  by  the  memory.  It  is  ever 
engaged  in  analyzing  and  compounding  ;  in  discovering 
analogies  more  or  less  obvious  ;  in  tracing  up  the  effect 
to  its  cause,  or  following  the  cause  onwards  to  its  dis- 
tant consequences.  The  activity  of  thought  in  these 
operations  far  exceeds  the  velocity  of  the  most  subtle 
material  agents  such  as  light  and  electricity.  The  num- 
ber of  relations  discovered  by  the  mind  in  a  single  day, 
or  a  single  hour,  or  even,  at  times,  in  a  single  minute, 
far  exceeds  human  calculation.  It  would  require  hours, 
on  the  part  of  the  reflective  philosopher,  to  spread  out 
and  analyze  the  judgments  of  as  few  moments  of  spon- 
taneous thought.  But  every  correlation  discovered  among 
objects  may  become  the  ground  of  their  association  by 
the  mind  at  any  .future  time. 

2.  The  laws  of  association  are  adapted  to  the  intellec- 
tual powers,  and  are  the  means  of  aiding  them,  and,  in 
particular,  of  supplying  them  with  illustrations,  and 
enabling  them  to  follow  out  their  investigations.  When- 
ever a  relation  has  been  discovered,  it  henceforth  becomes 
a  means  of  associating  in  our  thoughts  the  objects  re- 
lated. The  analysis  brings  up  the  synthesis,  and  the 
synthesis  reproduces  the  analysis.  The  individual  now 
calls  up  the  species  or  the  genus,  and  the  species  or  the 
genus  calls  up  the  individual  as  an  exemplification  of  it. 
The  cause  suggests  the  effect,  and  the  effect  the  cause. 
The  laws  of  suggestion  thus  carry  out  spontaneously  the 
processes  which,  in  the  first  instance,  have  required  the 
more  laborious  exercises  of  the  understanding.  Our  in- 
tellectual conquests  are  thus  kept  from  being  lost.  Every 
discovered  relation  is  made  to  re-appear  with  new  con- 
firmations, without  limit  and  without  end. 

3.  The  links  which  bind  our  thoughts  may  be  made 
so  far  to  depend  on  our  intellectual  habits.     We  say  "  so 


478  THE   ASSOCIATION   OF   IDEAS. 

far,"  because  associations  may  also  be  formed  by  casual 
circumstances  or  impulses,  or  may  depend  on  th°i  state  of 
the  bodily  organism,  or  other  things  which  cannot  be 
directly  regulated  by  the  understanding.  Still  the  asso- 
ciations formed,  must  so  far  depend  on  the  intellect; 
man  is  not  so  helpless  as  he  sometimes  imagines  that  he 
is  in  the  current  of  his  thoughts.  If  the  mind  delight  to 
discover  high  and  important  relations,  then  the  ideas  will 
be  found  to  suggest  each  other  agreeably  to  these  noble 
relations.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  mind  is  fond  of 
tracing  trifling  relations,  relations  of  mere  accident,  or 
mere  verbal  relations — as  in  certain  kinds  of  wit — the 
links  which  combine  the  thoughts  will  also  be  of  a  trivial 
character  and  tendency.  It  is  found  here,  as  in  many 
other  cases,  that  as  men  sow,  so  must  they  also  reap. 

4.  A  provision  is  made  for  enabling  the  disciplined 
mind  to  conduct  ultroneously  its  scientific  pursuits. 
Natural  objects,  we  have  shewn,  are  related  according  to 
relations  of  class  and  cause.  The  mind,  as  we  have  also 
seen,  is  furnished  with  talents  specially  fitted  to  enable 
it  to  discover  these  relations.  And  now,  we  have  seen 
that  objects,  between  which  a  relation  has  been  discerned, 
will  be  brought  up  in  their  correlation  again  and  again. 
Provided  persons  have  only  made  the  analyses  required 
in  chemistry,  or  traced  the  classes  in  natural  history,  or 
the  causes  determined  by  natural  philosophy,  they  will 
fall  in  every  day  with  illustrations  and  confirmations. 
Nay,  in  thoroughly  trained  minds,  the  suggestive  faculty 
at  times  strikes  flashes  of  light  which  illuminate  the 
darkest  subject,  and  disclose  the  way  to  new  and  brilliant 
discoveries. 

Besides  these  Primary  Laws  of  Association,  there  are 
Secondary  Laws  (as  they  have  been  called  by  Brown) 
detemining  which  of  the  primary  laws  should  operate  at 


THE   ASSOCIATION    OF   IDEAS.  479 

any  given  time.  We  have  not  anywhere  a  complete 
enumeration  of  these  secondary  laws.  In  the  few  re- 
marks which  we  have  to  offer,  we  are  to  limit  ourselves 
to  the  two  which  stand  out  most  prominently. 

First,  Those  objects  are  recalled  most  readily  and  fre- 
quently to  which  we  have  attended,  or  to  which  we  have 
attached  an  act  of  the  will  of  any  description.  How 
speedily,  for  example,  does  the  striking  of  the  hours  of 
the  clock  vanish  from  our  memory  when  there  has  been 
no  particular  circumstance  to  call  our  attention  to  it  ! 
On  the  other  hand,  when  wTe  have  deliberately  revolved 
any  particular  topic  in  our  minds,  it  will  more  readily 
come  up  before  us  at  all  future  times.  The  will  has  an 
antiseptic  power,  and  keeps  whatever  has  been  embalmed 
by  it  from  being  destroyed. 

Secondly,  Our  minds  will  often  be  directed  towards 
an  object  when  our  feelings  are  interested  in  it.  There 
is  a  locality,  for  example,  which  has  been  much  before  the 
minds  of  multitudes  during  the  past  year  or  two.  Some 
of  us  had  scarcely  ever  heard  of  it  before  ;  it  possesses  in 
itself  no  great  interest ;  it  consists  of  rocky  and  barren 
heights  sweeping  down  to  an  indented  shore.  Yet  how 
often  have  our  thoughts  been  turned  of  late  to  that 
place  !  With  what  eagerness  did  fathers  and  mothers, 
sisters  and  children,  lover  and  friend,  look  for  tidings  of 
beloved  ones  toiling  and  fighting  on  these  cold  and  brist- 
ling eminences  !  There  are  thousands  upon  thousands 
who  can  never  forget  that  spot,  many  to  whose  view  it 
Avill  rise  up  every  day  of  their  future  lives,  and  some  to 
whom  it  will  henceforth  appear  every  waking  hour  of 
their  existence  on  earth — for  there  it  was  that  a  son,  or 
brother,  or  husband  was  smitten,  as  amidst  flying  balls 
and  bursting  shells,  he  rushed  to  fi<>ht  the  enemies  of 
his  country.     There  are  children,  whose  first  lessons  in 


480  THE   ASSOCIATION   OF   IDEAS. 

geography,  learned  from  a  mother's  lips,  will  be  about 
these  wild  heights,  and  the  blasting  storms  which  raged 
around  them — for  there  it  was  that  the  father  breathed 
his  last.  And  why  do  men's  minds  wander  so  often  to 
these  scenes  ?  it  is  because  their  feelings  have  become 
interested  in  them,  and  emotion  has  the  power  of 
preserving,  as  in  amber,  whatever  has  been  imbedded 
in  it. 

Now,  let  us  mark  how  these  two  laws  aid  sciencific 
men  in  their  pursuits.  The  attention  which  they  have 
given  to  the  subjects  which  engross  them ;  their  fixed  de- 
terminations regarding  them. ;  the  efforts  which  they  have 
made  to  master  the  difficulties  ;  their  very  disappoint- 
ments and  failures — all  these  tend  to  bring  the  objects 
more  constantly  before  them,  that  they  may  fully  exhibit 
themselves,  and  reveal  all  their  truth.  Then,  their  ori- 
ginal tastes,  and  their  acquired  habits,  the  result  of  associa- 
tion, cause  them  to  warm  as  they  advance,  and  now  their 
hearts  are  as  much  interested  as  their  heads  in  their  pur- 
suits. The  botanist  comes  to  love  the  plants,  the  zoolo- 
gist the  animals,  and  the  astronomer  the  stars,  which  he 
has  often  and  anxiously  watched,  and  scientific  men  gen- 
erally feel,  when  engaged  with  their  favourite  pursuits, 
as  if  they  were  surrounded  by  friends  and  companions. 
But  as,  when  we  truly  love  our  friends,  we  find  ourselves 
frequently  thinking  of  them,  so,  those  who  are  engaged 
in  the  study  of  nature  dwell  habitually  among  their 
cherished  objects,  and  the  images  of  them  start  up  every- 
where to  delight  and  instruct,  to  furnish  new  examples 
of  old  laws,  and  suggest  new  laws  not  previously  dis- 
covered. 


THE    .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS.  481 

SECT.    IV. TUTS.   .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS. 

It  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  no  one  has  been  able 
to  give  a  complete  account  of  the  nature  of  Beauty. 
Pleasant  are  the  glimpses  which  not  a  few  have  had,  but 
to  no  one  has  she  fully  revealed  her  charms.  We  have 
many  valuable  contributions  towards  a  correct  theory,  but 
we  are  yet  without  a  thorough  analysis  or  a  full  exposi- 
tion. '  We  are  to  attempt  no  systematic  discussion  of  a 
subject  so  interesting  from  the  nature  of  the  objects  at 
which  it  looks,  and  yet  shewing  itself  to  be  so  subtle 
and  retiring  when  we  would  advance  towards  it.  It  is 
very  obvious  that,  in  the  judicious  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject, there  should  be  a  distinction  drawn  between  the 
object  which  calls  forth  the  feeling  and  the  feeling  called 
forth.  We  are  to  content  ourselves  with  shewing  that 
there  is  a  correspondence  between  the  two,  and  the  com- 
ponent parts  of  each.  Here,  as  in  every  other  province 
of  God's  works,  we  find  the  confluence  of  a  number  of 
streams  ;  only,  in  the  case  of  beauty,  they  are  so  blended 
that  it  is  impossible  to  trace  each  to  its  source. 

I.  Vigorous  efforts  are  being  made,  in  the  present  day, 
to  find  out  in  what  physical  beauty  consists.  These  at- 
tempts have  so  far  been  successful.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated that  there  are  certain  distributions  of  colours 
which  are  more  agreeable  than  others.  Certain  colours, 
if  placed  alongside  of  each  other  in  the  decoration  of  a 
house,  or  a  piece  of  dress,  are  felt  to  produce  a  pleasant 
impression.  But  we  have  shewn  that  these  juxtaposi- 
tions of  colours  are  frequently  met  with  in  the  plant,  in 
the  plumage  of  birds,  and  in  the  sky.  There  is  here  a 
correspondence  between  the  external  world  on  the  one 
hand,  and  our  organization  bodily,  and  probably  mental 
also,  on  the  other. 

21 


482  THE    ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS. 

Endeavours  are  also  being  made  to  find  out  the  law 
of  harmonious  forms.  Not  having  fully  examined  the 
subject,  we  are  not  prepared  to  say  how  far  they  have 
been  successful.  But  we  are  persuaded  that  such  in- 
quirers as  Dr.  M'Vicar  and  Mr.  Hay  are  on  the  proper 
route,  and  that,  sooner  or  later,  there  will  be  detected 
certain  laws  of  beauty  in  form,  capable  of  mathematical 
expression.  But  it  is  to  be  carefully  noticed,  that  even 
when  scientific  research  shall  have  established  all  this,  it 
has  not  fully  explained  the  phenomena  of  beauty.  For 
the  mental  sentiment,  of  which  we  are  conscious,  corre- 
sponding to  the  physical  object  which  excites  it,  is  as 
wonderful  as  the  object  which  calls  it  forth  ;  indeed,  the 
most  remarkable  feature  of  the  whole  phenomenon  is  the 
adaptation  of  the  one  to  the  other. 

II.  We  are  not  to  speak  confidently  on  so  intricate  a 
subject,  but  it  appears  to  us  that  there  is  a  feeling  of 
beauty  resulting  from  certain  exercises  of  the  intelligence, 
(we  are  sure  that  there  is  a  feeling  of  beauty  awakened 
by  certain  moral  ideas.)  This  emotion  issues  when  the 
mind,  in  contemplating  objects,  discovers  spontaneously, 
without  will  and  without  effort,  a  number  of  seemingly 
intended  relations  of  one  thing  to  another.  There  has 
been  a  striving  after  the  expression  of  this  truth  by  deep 
thinkers  in  different  ages.  According  to  Augustine, 
beauty  consists  in  order  and  design  ;  according  to  Hut- 
cheson,  in  unity  with  variety  ;  according  to  Diderot,  in 
relations.  Glimpses  of  the  same  doctrine  appear  and 
disappear  in  the  writings  of  Cousin,  M'Vicar,  and  Rus- 
kin.*  There  is  a  sort  of  beauty  in  a  large  combination 
of  independent  means  to  accomplish  one  end,  and  in  the 
co-agency  of  numberless   causes  to  work   one  effect, — 

*  Cousin  on  the  True,  the  Beautiful,  the  Good;  M'Vicar  on  the  Beautiful,  &c,  (1837;) 
Raskin's  Modern  Painters,  vol.  ii.  sect.  i.  chaps,  v.  v'. 


THE   ESTHETIC   SENTIMENTS.  483 

provided  always  that  the  end  be  not  malevolent,  or  the 
effect  trivial.  There  is  a  beauty  in  certain  well-arranged 
forms,  perhaps  also  in  certain  recurrences  and  propor- 
tions. It  is  said  that  there  is  a  beauty  in  certain  regular 
rectilinear  figures,  such  as  the  triangle,  the  parallelogram 
and  square,  and  it  has  been  shown  that  these  regulate 
not  a  few  forms  of  beauty.  This  seems  to  us,  however, 
to  be  only  a  partial  expression  of  the  truth  ;  we  think 
that  it  needs  a  complementary  truth  to  be  added.  The 
feeling  of  beauty  is  called  forth  only  when,  along  with  an 
observable  regularity  of  figure,  there  is  something  to  in- 
dicate that  there  has  been  more  than  mechanism  at  work. 
If  the  form  be  too  evidently  regular,  there  is  little  or  no 
emotion  excited.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  figure  be 
irregular  throughout,  there  is  no  feeling  of  beauty.  But 
if  there  be  a  regular  figure,  such  as  a  triangle,  at  the 
basis  of  the  whole,  with  curvilinear  departures  to  set  it 
off,  or  if  there  be  rhomboids  set  in  spirals,  as  on  the  sur- 
face of  cones,  then  the  a?sthetic  sentiment  is  called  forth. 
This  general  view  is  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  the 
pleasure  which  is  felt  in  rhyme  and  in  verse  of  every 
description,  indeed,  in  all  forms  of  poetry,  ancient  or  mo- 
dem, eastern  or  western.  All  kinds  of  poetry  agree  in 
presenting  repetitions,  parallelisms,  balancings,  corre- 
spondences of  some  description.  The  mind  is  excited, 
and  its  admiration  is  called  forth,  when  it  finds  the  varied 
thoughts  and  feelings  grouped  under  correlations  of  sound 
or  sentiment,  which  exercise  the  intellect,  and  aid  the 
natural  flow  of  association,  which  proceeds,  we  have 
shewn,  according  to  correlation.  There  is  a  similar  plea- 
sure excited  by  the  tropes,  figures,  apposite  allusions, 
comparisons,  metaphors,  contrasts,  which  are  ever  ad- 
dressing themselves  to  us  in  more  adorned  prose,  such  as 
that  of  Plato,  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  of  Edmund  Burke. 


484  THE    .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS. 

But  the  correlations  of  poetry  are  limited  in  range 
compared  with  those  which  meet  us  everywhere  in  the 
kingdoms  of  nature.  In  all  organic  bodies  there  is,  along 
with  more  or  less  variety,  a  symmetry  or  likeness  of  side 
to  side,  and  also  a  repetition  of  similar  parts  ;  and  in 
higher  organisms,  there  are  more  complex  and  recon- 
dite correspondences. 

In  plants,  there  are  regular  lines  and  definite  angles 
in  the  framework,  but  meanwhile  the  bounding  lines  are 
always  curves,  all  the  more  beautiful  that  they  are  not 
the  more  regular  curves,  but  curves  of  great  freedom  of 
sweep.  We  have  found  it  interesting  to  notice,  that  in 
the  leaves  of  many  plants  there  is  a  series  of  visible  tri- 
angles. These  triangles  are  formed  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  leaf  by  the  midrib,  by  the  lateral  vein,  and  by  a 
line  drawn  from  the  apex  of  the  leaf  to  the  top  of  the 
midrib.  It  has  been  affirmed  that  there  is  a  peculiar 
significancy  in  the  right-angled  triangle  ;  it  exhibits  most 
observably  a  unity  with  variety  ;  and  we  have  noticed 
that  in  many  plants  the  angles  formed  by  the  lateral  veins 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  leaf,  and  a  line  drawn  from  their 
apex  to  the  apex  of  the  leaf,  is  a  right  angle.  There  is 
a  series  of  similar  triangles  in  the  upper  part  of  the  coma 
of  many  trees.  Yet  every  vein  and  branch,  and  the  out- 
line of  every  leaf,  and  of  the  coma  of  every  tree,  is  not  a 
straight  line,  but  a  curve  with  a  graceful  sweep,  that  is, 
a  sweep  which  still  maintains  an  observable  regularity. 
The  triangle  would  be  stiff  and  formal  without  the  curve, 
and  the  curve  would  be  eccentric  without  the  triangle  ; 
the  beauty  arises  from  the  union  of  the  two. 

There  is  beauty  in  the  spiral  arrangement  of  the  appen- 
dages of  the  plant,  and  in  the  crossing  of  the  spiral  lines 
on  the  surface  of  the  stem,  and  of  many  fruits.  Of  the 
more  regular  curves,  the  spiral  combines  in  itself  most 


THE    ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS.  485 

evidently  the  two  principles  of  unity  with  variety,  that 
is.  the  greatest  number  of  visible  correlations  ;  and  it  is 
interesting  to  notice,  that  this  figure  is  perhaps  the  most 
universally  prevalent  regular  figure  in  nature,  being  seen 
in  shell-fish,  in  plants,  and  in  the  starry  heavens.  There 
is  a  visible  beauty,  too,  in  the  regular  flower-cup,  with 
the  petals  all  alike,  surrounding  and  guarding  a  common 
centre,  and  each  with  curvilinear  outline.  There  is  no 
less  beauty  in  the  irregular  flower,  with  one  of  its  petals 
standing  out  from  the  rest,  but  this  not  by  chance  or  by 
oversight,  for  in  order  to  enable  it  to  counterbalance  the 
others,  it  has,  we  have  shewn,  a  richer  colouring. 

In  the  animal  frame  the  relations  are  more  numerous, 
but  at  the  same  time,  as  becomes  the  higher  subject, 
more  manifold,  and  not  so  easily  noticed.  Whatever 
disadvantage  might  arise,  from  the  latter  source,  to  minds 
of  limited  intelligence,  is  counterpoised  by  the  Life  which 
distinguishes  the  animal  from  the  plant.  The  plant 
being  soulless,  must  have  a  meaning  given  to  it  by  its 
regular  shape  and  regular  divergences.  The  soul  of  the 
animal,  on  the  other  hand,  is  sufficient  to  impart  to  it  a 
concentration  of  purpose,  with  a  never-ceasing  activity 
and  change. 

Still  there  is  a  beauty  in  the  forms  of  the  animal. 
Mr.  Hay  thinks  he  has  found  triangles  regulating  the 
framework  of  the  human  body.  But  it  should  be 
carefully  noted  that  no  such  angular  figures  strike  the 
eye  in  the  rounded  body  of  man  or  woman.  There  are 
indeed  ratios  and  proportions  carefully  attended  to  in 
the  construction  of  the  human  frame,  and  perceived  un- 
consciously by  the  mind,  and  these  doubtless  give  the 
unity  to  the  body.  But  these  would  not  kindle  a  feeling 
of  beauty,  (they  excite  no  such  feeling  in  the  skeleton  or 
in  Mr.  Hay's  plates,)  unless  they  were  relieved  by  rounded 


486  THE    .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS. 

forms  and  flowing  curves.  The  feeling  of  beauty  is 
raised  neither  by  the  one  nor  the  other,  but  by  the 
happy  marriage-union  of  the  stronger  with  the  more 
flexible. 

It  will  not  be  understood  from  this  statement  that  we 
look  upon  the  perception  of  beauty  as  an  intellectual  ex- 
ercise ;  what  we  mean  is,  that  the  intellectual  exercise 
may  lead  on  to  it.  That  there  is  need  of  some  intellec- 
tual perception  in  order  to  the  sense  of  beauty,  is  evident 
from  the  circumstance  that  nations  and  persons  low  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence  have  little  sense  of  beauty,  and  what 
little  they  have  is  awakened  by  the  simplest  forms  of 
beauty.  The  sense  of  beauty  is  a  sentiment,  and  not  an 
act  of  the  understanding,  but  it  is  the  reward  which 
God  give's  to  the  intelligence  when  contemplating  the 
noblest  of  His  works.  Not  even  that  it  issues  simply 
from  the  intellectual  act,  it  proceeds  from  the  intelligence 
contemplating  those  designed  relations  which  appear  in 
the  objects. 

If  there  be  any  truth  in  these  views,  they  lend  an  em- 
phasis and  significance  to  much  that  we  have  been  esta- 
blishing throughout  this  volume.  The  sense  of  beauty 
in  the  case  of  a  vast  number  of  organic  objects  is  called 
forth  by  the  very  union  of  typical  form  and  intended 
modifications  ;  by  the  special  end  being  in  conformity 
with  a  general  plan.  Every  one  of  the  correspondences 
we  have  been  tracing  in  the  plant  and  animal  may,  when 
taken  along  with  the  designed  departures,  be  the  means 
of  exciting  admiration  and  a  sense  of  beauty.  Those 
who  experienced  the  feeling,  may  not  be  able  to  lay  bare 
the  principle  on  which  it  proceeds,  but  nevertheless  they 
perceived  the  plan  and  the  end,  and  the  emotion  sprang 
up  spontaneously. 

And  here  it  is  instructive  to  notice  how  the  class  of 


THE    .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS.  487 

sesthetic  emotions  are  meant  to  lead  on  our  minds  from 
creation  to  the  Creator.  For  it  is  only  when  there  is  such 
a  correspondence  among  objects  as  might  be  designed 
that  the  emotions  are  awakened.  The  whole  exercise  of 
mind  is  thus  fitted,  and  we  believe  intended,  to  draw  us 
on  to  the  perception  of  design.  It  is  too  true  that  the 
thoughts  of  many  are  arrested  when  they  would  run  in 
this  direction.  The  assthetic  emotions  are  cherished  and 
cultivated  by  many  who  spurn  away  every  sentiment  of 
godliness.  Alas,  it  is  because  a  deeply  seated  ungodliness 
is  staying  the  proper  outflowing  of  the  soul !  But  were 
it  not  that  men  "  restrain  prayer,"  every  perception  of 
the  beauty  of  natural  objects  would  express  itself  in  a 
hymn  of  praise  to  the  Maker  of  them  all.  The  feeling 
excited  by  the  beautiful  is  the  fire  which  should  kindle 
the  sacrifice  into  a  flame  rising  to  heaven. 

III.  The  theory  of  Alison,  followed  out  and  illustrated 
by  the  late  Lord  Jeffrey,  which  refers  all  beauty  to  asso- 
ciation of  ideas,  was  never  favourably  received  by  artists, 
and  is  now  abandoned  by  all  metaphysicians.  But  while 
the  doctrine  of  association  cannot  explain  every  phenom- 
enon connected  with  the  perception  of  beauty,  there  is 
much  that  it  can  account  for,  and  which  can  be  accounted 
for  in  no  other  way.  When  living  in  a  rural  district,  we 
hear  on  the  Sabbath  the  sound  of  a  bell  rising  in  the 
midst  of  the  stillness,  and  we  say  how  beautiful  ;  but  we 
feel  in  this  way  not  so  much  because  of  any  pleasure 
which  the  sound  may  give  to  the  bodily  organism,  (for 
the  sound  may  rather  be  grating  in  itself,)  but  because 
it  is  associated  with  the  idea  of  Sabbath  peace,  and  the 
blessing  which  the  Sabbath  diffuses.  The  association  of 
ideas  alone  can  explain  such  a  phenomenon  as  this,  a 
sound  or  sight  rendered  pleasant  by  reason  of  the  delight- 
ful   feelings  which  cluster  around  it.     There   is  a   still 


488  THE    .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS. 

more  important  part  of  the  complex  state  of  mind  which 
can  be  accounted  for  in  no  other  way  ;  we  allude  to  the 
prolonging  of  the  pleasure,  and  the  variety  of  the  plea- 
sure communicated  by  the  image  upon  image,  the  feel- 
ing upon  feeling,  all  agreeable  and  exciting,  raised  by 
certain  objects,  such  as  a  cheerful  countenance,  a  plain 
covered  with  grain,  and  a  river  rolling  along  amid  fer- 
tile banks.  It  is  in  the  union  of  the  two,  the  original 
feeling  of  beauty,  and  the  association  with  it  of  other 
pleasant  feelings,  that  we  are  to  find  the  full  explana- 
tion of  the  phenomenon.  By  the  one  we  account  for 
what  is  fixed  in  aesthetics,  for  the  uniformity  of  men's 
judgments  in  matter  of  taste  ;  by  the  other,  that  is,  by 
the  difference  of  the  associated  feelings,  we  can  account 
for  what  is  variable,  for  what  differs,  in  the  case  of  differ- 
ent individuals.  And  wre  do  not  know  whether  to  admire 
most  that  constitution  of  our  nature,  by  which  there  are 
certain  points  of  agreement  in  all  men's  tastes,  which 
renders  it  possible  for  them  to  sympathize  with  each 
other,  and  by  which  a  science  of  aesthetics  is  rendered 
possible,  or  that  variety  of  tastes  which  gives  to  every 
man  his  individuality,  which  secures  that  all  do  not  run 
after  the  same  object,  and  that  there  is  scarcely  an  object 
which  may  not  be  made  attractive  to  certain  minds. 

But  then,  this  very  association  of  ideas  in  its  special 
connexion  with  the  beautiful,  requires  itself  to  be  ac- 
counted for.  The  views  which  we  have  propounded  may 
aid  us  in  doing  so.  The  feeling  of  beauty  is  awakened 
by  means  of  discovered  correlations,  and  each  of  these 
ramifies  into  collateral  topics.  Then  all  the  correlations 
point  to  Design,  and  Design  is  a  mental  quality  alluring 
on  the  mind  to  a  thousand  pleasant  topics.  Hence  the 
retinue  of  thoughts  ready  to  rise  up,  and  prolonging  the 
feeling  as  by  answering  echoes,  and  calling  in  images  to 


THE    ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS.  489 

aid  it  from  every  object  in  nature  or  in  art,  which  may 
have  fallen  under  the  notice. 

IV.  We  may  notice  some  other  and  allied  feelings,  so 
far  as  they  are  awakened  by  objects  in  nature.  Some 
maintain  that  there  are  plants  and  animals  which  may 
be  described  as  ludicrous.  If  there  be,  it  is  because  they 
are  addressed  to  the  sense  of  the  ludicrous  in  us.  The 
feeling  of  the  ludicrous  seems  to  us  to  be  awakened  by 
the  discovery  of  an  unexpected  relation  between  objects 
in  other  respects  totally  dissimilar.  This,  too,  seems  to 
point,  but  in  an  opposite  way,  from  the  sense  of  beauty 
to  design,  to  design  in  bringing  things  unlike  into  one 
category.  There  are,  certainly,  grotesque  and  fantastic 
objects,  both  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms, 
which  call  up  the  feelings  of  the  ludicrous.  We  smile 
when  we  observe  how  like  the  owl  is  to  an  old  man  or 
woman  with  excessive  pretensions  to  wisdom  ;  how  like 
certain  orchids  are  to  beasts,  birds,  or  insects  ;  and  how 
admirably  the  monkey  mimics  the  movements  of  hu- 
manity. 

V.  There  are  scenes  met  with  on  our  earth  which  are 
expressively  called  picturesque.  They  seem  to  be  pecu- 
liarly addressed  to  the  imagining  power  of  the  mind  ;  they 
are  picture-like,  and  raise  a  vivid  picture  of  themselves 
in  the  mind ;  such  as  the  jagged  mountain  ridges,  the 
peaked  promontories,  the  perpendicular  rocks.  The 
mass  of  objects  on  the  earth  are  not  of  this  exciting 
character.  Just  as  the  ground  colours  of  nature  are  soft, 
or  neutral,  so  the  earth's  common  scenes  are  irregular,  or 
simply  rounded  in  their  outline.  Yet  here  and  there 
there  arise  picture-like  objects  from  the  midst  of  them, 
to  arrest  the  eye  and  print  themselves  on  the  fancy.  It 
may  be  noticed,  that  the  grass  and  grain  of  the  earth 
raise  up  their  sharp  points  from  the  surface  to  catcli  our 

21* 


490  THE   .ESTHETIC    SENTIMENT3. 

eye.  A  still  larger  proportion  of  objects  above  us,  and 
standing  between  us  and  the  sky,  have  a  clear  outline  or 
vivid  points.  This  is  the  case  with  the  leaves  and  the 
coma  of  trees,  and  with  not  a  few  rocks  and  mountains. 
Rising  out  from  quieter  scenes,  they  enliven  without 
exciting  the  mind,  and  tend  to  raise  that  earthward 
look  of  ours,  and  direct  it  to  heaven,  to  which  they 
point.  > 

VI.  Before  closing  this  paragraph,  we  must  allude  to 
another  kindred  subject,  the  Sublime,  so  far  as  natural 
objects  are  fitted  to  raise  the  feeling.  Visible  things  can 
here  do  nothing  more  than  aid  the  mind,  which  uses  them 
merely  to  pass  beyond  them. 

The  feeling  of  the  Sublime  is  acknowledged  on  all 
hands  to  be  intimately  connected  with  the  Idea  of  the 
Infinite.  In  the  formation — or  rather,  in  the  attempt  at 
the  formation — of  this  idea,  the  mind  shews,  in  a  very 
striking  manner,  both  its  strength  and  its  weakness.  In 
expanding  any  image. spatially,  it  finds  itself  incapable 
of  doing  anything  more  than  representing  to  itself  a  vo- 
lume with  a  spherical  boundary.  In  following  out  its 
contemplation  in  respect  of  time,  the  image  is  of  a  line 
of  great  length,  but  terminating  in  a  point  at  each  end. 
But  where  the  mind  shews  its  weakness,  there  it  also 
exhibits  its  strength.  It  can  only  imagine  this  bounded 
sphere  and  outline,  but  it  is  led  to  believe  in  vastly  more. 
It  strives  to  conceive  the  Infinite,  but  ever  feels  as  if  it 
were  baffled  and  thrown  back.  But  while  the  mind 
cannot  embrace  the  infinite,  it  feels,  at  the  place  where 
it  is  arrested  by  its  own  impotency,  that  there  is  an  in- 
finite beyond.  Looking  forth,  as  it  were,  on  the  sky,  it 
can  see  only  a  certain  distance,  but  is  constrained  to  be- 
lieve that  there  is  much  more  beyond  the  range  of  the 
vision — nay,  that  to  whatever  point  it  might  go,  there 


THE    ESTHETIC    SENTIMENTS.  491 

would  still  be  a  something  farther  on.  "  If  the  mind," 
says  John  Foster,  "  were  to  arrive  at  the  solemn  ridge 
of  mountains  which  we  may  fancy  to  bound  creation,  it 
would  eagerly  ask,  Why  no  farther  ? — what  is  beyond  ?" 
It  is  here  that  we  find  the  origin  and  genesis  of  such  idea 
as  the  mind  can  form  of  the  infinite,  and  of  the  belief,  to 
which  it  ever  clings,  in  the  boundless  and  eternal. 

Now,  whatever  calls  forth  this  exercise  of  mind  and 
the  feeling  of  awe  awakened  by  it,  may  be  described  as 
sublime.  So  far  as  picturesque  objects  are  concerned,  the 
imaging  power  of  the  mind  rejoices  to  find  that  it  can 
print  them  upon  its  surface.  But  there  are  objects  which 
it  tries  in  vain  to  picture  or  represent  ;  the  imaging 
power  is  filled,  but  they -will  not  be  compressed  within 
it.     Everywhere  in  nature  are  there  scenes  which  are 

..."  Like  an  invitation  in  space 
Boundless,  a  guide  into  Eternity." 

A  vast  height,  such  as  a  lofty  mountain,  is  a  step  to  help 
us  to  this  elevation  of  thought  and  emotion.  The  reve- 
lations of  astronomy  awaken  the  feeling,  because  they 
carry  out  the  soul  into  far  depths  of  space,  but  without 
carrying  it  to  the  verge  of  space.  The  discoveries  in 
geology  extend  the  mind  in  much  the  same  way,  by  the 
long  vistas  opened  of  ages — which  yet  do  not  go  back  to 
the  beginning.  Every  vast  display  of  power  evokes  this 
overawing  sentiment  ;  we  see  effects  which  are  great, 
arguing  a  power  which  is  greater.  The  howl  of  the 
tempest,  the  ceaseless  lashing  of  the  ocean,  the  roar  of 
the  waterfall,  the  crash  of  the  avalanche,  the  growl  of  the 
thunder,  the  shaking  of  the  very  foundation  on  which  we 
stand  when  the  earth  trembles— all  these  fill  the  ima- 
gination, but  are  suggestive  of  something  more  tremen- 
dous behind  and  beyond.     For  a  similar  reason  the  vault 


492      THEORIES   OF    CONTINENTAL    PHILOSOPHERS    AS   TO 

of  heaven  is  always  a  sublime  object  when  serene  ;  we 
feel,  in  looking  into  it,  as  if  we  were  looking  into  immen- 
sity. Hence  it  is  that  a  clear  bright  space  in  the  sky  or 
in  a  painting,  always  allures  the  eye  towards  it  ;  it  is  an 
outlet  by  which  the  mind  may,  as  it  were,  go  out  into 
infinity. 

But  whatever  may  suggest  the  infinite,  there  is,  after 
all,- but  one  Infinite.  The  grandest  objects  presented  to 
our  view  in  earth  or  sky,  the  most  towering  heights,  the 
vastest  depths,  the  most  resistless  agencies — these  are 
but  means  to  help  us  to  the  contemplation  of  Him  who 
is  "high-throned  above  all  height,"  whose  counsels  reach 
from  eternity  to  eternity,  and  who  is  the  Almighty  unto 
perfection.  They  are  fulfilling  their  highest  end  when 
they  lift  us  above  this  cold  earth,  and  above  our  narrow 
selves,  to  revel  and  lose  ourselves  in  the  height  and  depth, 
the  length  and  breadth,  of  an  Infinite  Wisdom,  lightened 
and  warmed  by  an  Infinite  Love. 

SUPPLEMENTARY SEOT. THEORIES  OF  THE  CONTINENTAL  PHILO- 
SOPHERS AS  TO  THE  RELATION  OF  THE  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO 
THE  LAWS  OF  INTELLIGENCE. 

"We  have  illustrated,  to  as  large  an  extent  as  our  plan  allows,  the  facts 
which  bear  upon  the  relation  of  the  subjective  mind  to  the  objective  world. 
After  such  a  survey,  we  are  in  circumstances  to  examine  the  theories  of 
this  relation  which  have  been  propounded  by  some  of  the  deeper  thinkers 
on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and  especially  by  some  of  the  German  meta- 
physicians. It  should  be  frankly  acknowledged  that  we  have  derived 
much  new  material  for  thought  from  the  importation  into  our  land  of  the 
loftier  speculations  of  German  Philosophy ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten, 
at  the  same  time,  that  there  are  principles  lying  at  the  basis  of  some  of 
their  systems  which  would  go  far  to  undermine,  not  only  revealed,  but 
natural  religion  in  all  its  beneficent  forms.  Some  of  the  gigantic  systems, 
which  are  being  eagerly  studied  by  the  ardent  youth  of  our  land,  consti- 
tute the  chief  supports  of  a  pretending  pantheism  which  it  is  proposed  to 
substitute  for  the  doctrine  of  a  God  possessed  of  personality,  that  is,  of  a 


RELATION  OF  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO  INTELLIGENCE.      493 

separate  consciousness  and  an  independent  wilL  Before  entering  upon 
the  discussion  of  these  systems,  it  is  proper  to  state  that  we  are  to  exa- 
mine them  only  so  far  as  they  relate  to  our  own  subject,  and  as  they  pro- 
fess to  adduce  facts  external  or  internal  as  evidence  in  their  favour. 

In  order  to  understand  these  theories,  it  will  be  needful  to  trace  them 
historically  from  their  origin.  It  was  a  fundamental  principle  of  Descartes 
— so  distinguished  for  the  originality  and  the  independence  of  his  thinking 
— that  tnere  existed  in  the  universe  two  entirely  distinct  substances,  spirit, 
whose  essence  is  thought,  and  matter,  whose  essence  is  extension.  In  his 
days,  it  was  a  universally  acknowledged  principle  that  things  which  were 
like,  and  they  only,  could  influence  each  other.  This  seems  to  be  an  un- 
founded, or  rather  a  false  principle.  In  this  universe,  things  very  unlike 
affect  each  other ;  in  polar  action,  like  repels  like,  and  things  unlike  are 
attracted  to  each  other.  But,  being  then  a  universally  recognized  princi- 
ple, we  find  it  acting  an  important  part,  in  the  philosophy  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  In  particular,  it  suggested  a  difficulty  which  greatly 
puzzled  the  school  of  Descartes; — How  can  mind  influence  matter,  and 
matter  mind  ?  How  does  an  object,  presented  to  the  senses,  give  rise  to 
an  apprehension  of  it  in  the  mind  ?  How  is  it,  that  when  we  will  to  move 
the  arm,  the  arm  moves  ?  It  does  not  appear  that  Descartes  uttered  a 
very  clear  or  explicit  answer  to  this  question,  but  the  reply  was  given,  and 
this  quite  in  the  spirit  of  the  master,  by  the  disciples,  and,  in  particular,  by 
the  ingenious  and  devout  Malebranche.  According  to  him,  matter  does 
not  influence  mind,  nor  mind  matter ;  the  action  of  matter  in  reference  to 
mind,  and  of  mind  in  reference  to  matter,  is  the  mere  occasion  of  the  forth- 
putting  of  the  Divine  power,  which  is  the  true  cause  of  the  effects  which 
follow.  Thus,  when  we  will  to  move  the  arm,  a  present  Deity,  the  source 
of  all  power,  actually  makes  the  arm  to  move.  This  is  the  famous  doc- 
trince  of  Occasional  Causes,  as  maintained  by  Malebranche.  To  us  it 
appears  that  God  has  been  pleased  to  give  a  delegated  power  both  to  mind 
and  matter,  and  that  there  is  no  greater  difficulty  in  supposing  mind  to 
act  on  matter,  than  in  supposing  matter  to  act  on  matter. 

These  principles  and  speculations,  floating  among  the  reading  and 
thinking  minds  of  that  era,  took  a  deep  hold  on  the  meditative  spirit  of  a 
glass-grinder  at  Amsterdam,  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  Jewish  faith. 
The  influence  exercised  by  this  man — despised  and  persecuted  in  his  owa 
day — upon  the  whole  of  the  future  history  of  speculation,  is  one  of  the 
most  curious  incidents  in  the  whole  history  of  modern  philosophy.  It  is 
acknowledged,  he  argues,  that  if  mind  and  matter  are  totally  different 
Bubstances,  they  cannot  influence  each  other;  but  it  is  very  evident,  mean- 
while, that  they  have  innumerable  points  of  connexion.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  them  to  be  separate  substances,  they  are  to  bo  regarded  as 
modes  of  one  and  the  same  substance,  a  substance  possessed  both  of 


494      THEORIES   OF   CONTINENTAL   PHILOSOPHERS   AS  TO 

thought  and  extension.  In  itself  this  one  substance  is  Natura  Naturans, 
possessing  all  power,  and  ever  developing  itself;  in  the  universe  it  is 
Nalura  Naturata.  This  system  recommended  itself  to  the  mind  of  Spi- 
noza by  its  simplicity ;  it  seemed  to  follow  from  the  acknowledged  princi- 
ples of  the  day  as  to  the  nature  of  substance ;  and  it  accounted  for  the 
unity  of  operation  which  everywhere  runs  through  nature.  It  is  probable 
that  Spinoza  did  not  allow  himself  seriously  to  contemplate  the  fatal  na- 
ture of  the  consequences  flowing  from  a  system  which  makes  evil,  even 
moral  evil,  a  development  or  mode  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  denies  to  man 
all  free-will,  all  personality,  and  accountability  to  a  being  different  from 
himself.  Still,  he  saw  and  avowed  that  such  consequences  did  follow,  and 
was  willing  to  take  them  as  the  logical  results  of  a  system  which  had  so 
much  to  recommend  it  to  his  reason,  and  which  represented  the  universe 
as  full  of  Deity. 

Passing  over  inferior  names,  we  now  find  the  lofty  genius  of  Leibnitz 
devoting  itself  to  the  solution  of  the  same  problems.  Proceeding  on  the 
principle  that  mind  could  not  influence  matter,  nor  matter  mind,  he  sup- 
posed that  they  co-operated  so  beautifully  in  consequence  of  a  Harmony 
Pre-established  between  them.  Kejecting  the  atomic  theory  of  matter, 
which  had  found  such  favour  with  Bacon,  Gassendi,  and  the  majority  of 
modern  physicists,  he  substituted  a  theory  of  Monads.  The  ultimate  prin- 
ciples of  matter  were  not,  according  to  him,  sluggish  atoms,  but  active 
powers.  There  are  two  distinct  kinds  of  monads,  the  one  unconscious,  the 
elements  of  matter — the  other  conscious,  the  elements  of  mind.  These 
could  not  be  thought  to  operate  causally  upon  each  other,  but  still  they 
acted  in  unison  by  reason  of  relations  pre-established  by  God,  the  Supreme 
and  Eternal  Monad,  between  the  inferior  monads,  whereby  each  monad 
acts  according  to  its  own  principle,  and  yet  acts  in  harmony  with  all 
around  it.  Some  of  these  speculations  of  Leibnitz  carry  us  into  regions 
where  we  have  really  no  light  to  g-uidc  us.  We  are  far,  at  this  day,  from 
being  able  to  determine  what  are  the  ultimate  elements  either  of  mind  or 
matter.  Some  of  the  principles  laid  down  by  him  are  evidently  wrong,  as 
when  he  says  that  the  monads,  or  powers  of  nature,  cannot  influence  each 
other.  The  agencies  of  nature,  whatever  they  be,  are  so  constituted  as  to 
be  able  to  operate  upon,  to  affect,  and  modify  each  other.  But,  in  these 
lofty  discussions,  there  is  a  truth  propounded  which  can  never  be  set  aside, 
but  which  will,  on  the  contrary,  appear  more  and  more  significant  in 
every  succeeding  age.  The  principle  in  which  we  refer  is  that  of  pre- 
established  harmony.  We  must,  indeed,  in  the  first  place,  affirm,  contrary 
to  the  theory  of  Leibnitz,  that  the  powers  of  nature,  whatever  they  be,  do 
stimulate  and  influence  the  one  the  other ;  but  we  must  also,  if  we  would 
account  for  the  phenomena  which  present  themselves,  take  along  with 
us  the  other  doctrine,  that  they  are  so  constituted  and  collocated  as  to  affect 


RELATION  OF  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO  INTELLIGENCE.   495 

each  other,  not  in  a  destructive,  but  in  a  beneficial  manner.  Their  mutual 
action,  which  Leibnitz  denied,  implies  in  itself  an  adjustment,  a  pre-estab- 
lished harmony;  and  there  are,  besides,  harmonies  proceeding  from  a  con- 
currence of  independent  causes ;  and  both  one  and  other  carry  up  our 
minds  to  an  Intelligent  Being  appointing,  from  the  beginning,  all  things 
to  act  in  concert. 

Such  was  the  state  of  speculation  on  this  all-important  subject  when 
the  profound  intellect  of  Kant  was  led  to  meditate  upon  it.  The  relation 
between  the  internal  and  the  external,  between  the  subjective  and  ob- 
jective, was  his  great  theme  round  which  his  philosophy  moved.  In 
studying  his  system  we  have  never  been  able  to  say  whether  we  should 
yield  to  the  feeling  of  admiration  which  the  logical  powers  manifested 
everywhere,  and  the  important  truths  unfolded  in  many  places,  naturally 
call  forth,  or  whether  we  should  not  restrain  all  sucli  sentiments  as  we 
deplore  the  erroneous  and  dangerous  principles  which  he  has  been  the 
means  of  introducing  not  only  into  German,  but  into  European  specula- 
tion. 

Kant  saw  clearly  that  we  cannot  account  for  human  knowledge  by 
mere  impressions  from  without,  that  it  was  needful  to  have  a  subjective 
power  as  well  as  an  objective  influence.  It  is  his  grand  aim  to  unfold 
these  subjective  principles,  and  in  particular,  the  synthetic  judgments  d 
priori,  the  judgments  pronounced  independently  of  experience,  on  objects 
known  by  experience.  In  all  knowledge,  he  says,  there  is,  on  the  one 
hand,  an  external  impression,  aud  on  the  other  a  subjective  form;  that  the 
external  thing  which  produces  the  impression  exists,  he  acknowledges, 
but  then  it  is  an  unknown  something.  It  is  at  this  point  that  his  error 
begins.  According  to  our  natural  cognitions  or  beliefs,  as  it  appears  to 
us,  the  mind  is  so  constituted  as  to  be  able  to  attain  a  limited  knowledge 
of  the  external  thing  as  it  is ;  but  according  to  Kant,  the  external  thing 
is  unknown,  and  there  is  much  in  our  cognition  of  it  which  is  given  to  it 
by  the  mind  as  it  contemplates  it.  Thus  the  mind,  in  looking  upon  the 
external  world,  perceives  it  always  as  in  Space  or  in  Time,  which  have  no 
objective  reality,  but  are  mere  forms  of  the  Sense  or  Sensibility.  Again, 
the  understanding,  in  judging  of  the  matters  of  Sense,  unites  them  under 
such  categories  as  Quantity,  Quality,  Relation,  Modality,  which  are  not 
to  be  understood  as  having  any  external  or  objective  realitj-. 

The  relation  between  the  subjective  and  objective  may,  wo  find  him 
arguing,  be  conceived  to  spring  from  one  or  other  of  three  causes: — First, 
From  the  objective  determining  the  subjective;  Secondly,  From  the  sub- 
jective determining  the  objective;  or,  TJiirdly,  From  a  pre-established 
relation  or  connexion  between  them.  He  then  shows  how  the  first  suppo- 
sition, that  of  the  school  of  Locke,  (as  he  represents  it,  confounding  it  every- 
where with  the  French  school  of  Condillac,)  which  derives  all  our  know- 


496      THEOEIES  OF  CONTINENTAL  PHILOSOPHERS  AS  TO 

ledge  from  sensation,  cannot  account  for  the  internal  facts.  ITe  dismisses 
the  third  doctrine,  that  of  a  pre-ordained  adjustment,  in  a  very  summary 
manner,  neither  stating  it  accurately,  nor  examining  it  carefully.  His 
objections  to  this  middle  way  are,  first,  that  no  end  can  be  seen  to  such 
an  hypothesis,  and  secondly,  that  necessity  would  be  wanting  to  the  cate- 
gories which  belongs  essentially  to  the  conception  of  them.0  In  reply  to 
the  first,  we  maintain  that  the  limit  to  the  relation  of  the  objective  to  the 
subjective,  is  to  be  ascertained  and  determined,  like  its  existence,"  by  induc- 
tive investigation ;  that  is,  we  believe  in  the  relation  only  so  far  as  we  prove 
it  to  exist,  that  is,  find  a  natural  aptitude  in  the  mind  on  the  one  hand, 
and  a  corresponding  operation  of  nature  on  the  other.  In  reply  to  the 
second,  we  urge,  that  when  there  is  a  feeling  of  necessity  in  the  internal 
principle,  there  is  a  universality  in  the  external  relation.  This  is  one  of 
the  correspondences  which  we  have  traced.  But  having  dismissed  the 
other  two,  Kant  finds  himself  shut  up  into  that  theory  which  makes  the 
mind  give  its  own  laws  and  relations  to  the  objective  world.  It  is  thus 
that  he  accounts  for  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  and  the  harmonies  in 
the  universe ;  they  are  not  in  the  universe  itself,  they  are  merely  in  the 
mind,  and  are  thence,  as  the  forms,  or  categories,  or  ideas  under  which  the 
mind  knows  all  things,  projected  upon  the  world.  In  this  system  the  doc- 
trine of  final  cause,  as  founded  upon  the  correspondence  between  the  miud 
and  nature,  and  upon  the  harmonies  of  nature,  must  necessarily  disappear, 
for  these  are  not  correlations  between  independent  things,  but  the  result 
of  one  principle  in  the  mind  itself.  It  is  not  difficult,  as  it  appears  to  us, 
to  meet  this  subjective  idealism.  We  are  led  by  the  very  constitution  of 
our  minds  to  believe  in  the  reality  of  external  objects ;  and  to  believe  in 
them  not  as  things  unknown,  but  as  things  so  far  known,  and  known  as 
professing  certain  properties;  and  further  to  believe,  that  such  relations  as 
those  of  quality,  and  cause  and  effect,  are  relations  in  the  things  them- 
selves. Kant  acknowledges  that  the  mind  does  not  create  the  things,  and 
on  the  same  ground  we  maintain  that  it  does  not  create  the  properties,  the 
relations  of  things;  it  has  a  set  of  powers  by  which  it  is  enabled  to  know 
them.  Deny  this,  and  we  deny  the  very  truths  of  consciousness — the 
truths  sanctioned  by  the  very  constitution  of  our  minds  ;  and  after  denying 
these,  we  have  no  principle  left  on  which  to  proceed  on  our  specula- 
tions, no  truth  so  certain  as  that  which  we  have  set  aside.  But  if  we 
believe  in  the  existence  of  external  things,  and  on  the  same  ground  in  the 
reality  of  the  relations  of  external  things,  we  are  obliged  as  Kant 
clearly  saw,  to  believe  also,  in  some  "Preformation,"  between  them. 
Not  that  we  are  therefore  to  set  aside  the  influence  of  mind  on  matter; 
for  matter  is  so  constituted  as  to  influence  the  nervous  system,  and  tho 
nervous  system  is  so  constituted  as  to  excite  mental  action.  Not  that  we 
*  Critick  of  Pure  Reason.     Analytic  of  Principles,  close  of  Book  I. 


KELATION  OF  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO  INTELLIGENCE.   497 

are  to  deny  the  separate  potency  of  mind — all  that  nervous  agency  does  ia 
to  caU  forth  the  activity  of  mind,  which  is  so  constituted  as  to  know  mat- 
ter, and  the  relations  of  matter.  Not  that  wc  are  to  deny  the  influence 
of  matter  upon  mind  in  putting  it  in  motion.  We  must  admit,  we  think, 
all  these  agencies,  the  action  of  mind,  the  action  of  matter,  and  their  re 
ciprocal  action.  And  in  order  to  account  for  their  harmonious  action,  we 
must  call  in  a  divinely-appointed  adjustment  of  the  two — an  adjustment 
net  independent,  as  Leibnitz  supposed,  of  their  mutual  action,  but  an  ad- 
justment enabling  them  to  act  upon,  as  well  as  with  each  other,  so  as  to 
produce  consistent  and  beneficial  results.  We  must,  as  most  important 
of  all,  suppose  that  there  has  been  a  pre-ordained  adjustment  between  the 
intuitive  laws  and  beliefs  of  the  mind  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  actual  re- 
lations instituted  in  the  external  world  on  the  other. 

There  was  but  a  step  between  the  doctrine  of  Kant  and  that  of  Fichte, 
which  professed  to  carry  out  the  principles  of  Kant  to  their  legitimate 
consequences.  Kant  admitted  that  there  was  an  external  world;  but  then 
he  supposed  that  the  mind  gave  to  it  its  qualities  and  relations  of  Space, 
Time,  Cause  and  Effect.  It  was  no  violent  step  in  advance  which  was 
taken  by  Fichte  when  he  alleged  that  the  mind,  which  was  capable  of . 
creating  all  the  relations  of  matter,  might  form  matter  itself.  The  whole 
external  world  became  in  this  philosophy  a  production  of  the  Ego,  all  its 
laws,  its  order,  its  harmonies,  being  given  it  by  the  mind  itself.  In  the 
progress  of  these  speculations  of  Fichte,  the  Ego  became  expanded,  in  an 
unintelligible,  inconceivable  manner,  into  a  kind  of  universal  Ego,  which 
constituted  the  Moral  Order  of  the  universe,  and  went  by  the  name  of 
God.  Here  there  was  an  end,  as  in  the  system  of  Kant,  to  all  final 
cause ;  but  let  it  be  observed  that  final  cause  was  discarded  on  grounds 
which  also  set  aside  all  objective  truth.  Here,  too,  there  was  an  end  to 
what  had  been  carefully  preserved  in  the  philosophy  of  Kant,  to  the  per- 
sonality of  man  and  to  the  separate  immortality  of  the  soul.  It  may  have 
been  a  discovery  of  the  connexion  of  this  system  with  his  own,  which  led 
Kant  in  his  late  years  to  pray  to  be  protected  from  his  friends.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  subject  this  system  to  a  critical  examination ;  in  doing  so 
we  should  only  be  wrestling  with  a  shadow.  It  sets  itself  against  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  mind,  which  announce  to  us  that  there  is 
a  reality,  independent  of  ourselves,  in  the  external  world. 

There  was  now  in  the  system  of  Fichte  a  scheme  of  pantheism,  with 
lofty  pretensions,  and  enforced  by  great  beauty  of  sentiment,  set  before  the 
German  mind.  About  this  period,  certain  occurrences  which  arose  out  of 
a  conversation  of  Jacobi  with  Lessing,  who  had  a  great  admiration  of 
Spinoza,  and  reported  by  the  former,  brought  the  system  of  the  Dutch 
Jew  also  before  the  thinking  mind  of  Germany.  It  was  while  the  Ger- 
man philosophic  mind  was  being  fermented  by  the  two  systems  of  Fichte 


498      THEORIES  OF  CONTINENTAL  PHILOSOPHERS  AS  TO 

and  Spinoza,  thnt  Schelling  produced  his  theory,  and  irradiated  it  with 
the  fascinations  of  a  poetical  imagination.  According  to  him,  it  was 
absurd  to  suppose  that  the  Ego  could  create  all  the  harmonies  of  things; 
we  must  go  farther  back  if  we  would  account  for  the  correspondences  be- 
tween the  external  and  internal.  Neither  is  this  relation  to  be  explained, 
as  Spinoza  supposes,  by  a  universal  substance  possessed  at  one  and  the 
same  time  of  thought  and  extension,  for  this  would  not  account  for  the 
very  diverse  experiences  of  subject  and  object.  We  must,  therefore,  go 
a  step  higher,  we  must  go  back  to  the  origin  both  of  the  subjective  and 
objective,  and  there  we  shall  find  them  identical  and  flowing  out  of  one 
original,  living  essence,  called  by  the  name  of  God.  This  self-existent 
essence  or  being  develops  itself  according  to  a  law,  and  becomes  on  the 
one  side  the  Ego,  and  on  the  other  the  Non-Ego;  on  the  one  side  the 
subject,  and  on  the  other  the  object ;  on  the  one  side  mind,  and  on  the  other 
nature.  Hence  the  harmony  of  the  two;  it  arises  from  their  identity. 
The  subjective  and  objective  are  in  such  visible  correspondence,  because 
the  developments  of  one  and  the  same  principle.  Hence  the  statement 
that  nature  is  petrified  intelligence,  and  that  mind  is  conscious  reflective 
nature.  The  feeling  of  beauty  in  the  mind  corresponds  to  beauty  in  the 
world,  because  both  are  the  unfolding  of  one  eternal  power  which  is  at 
one  and  the  same  time  God  and  the  universe.  God  is  lovely,  the  universe 
is  lovely,  man's  soul  loves  the  lovely  in  nature  and  creates  the  lovely  in 
art,  because  all  are  manifestations  of  the  One  who  is  infinitely  lovely.  It 
would  be  a  waste  of  thought  to  institute  a  serious  refutation  of  this  specu- 
lation, which,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  to  be  treated  as  a  picture  drawn  by  a 
brilliant  fancy.  In  its  fundamental  truths  it  is  inconsistent  with  our  in- 
tuitive knowledge  and  belief,  which  announces  to  us  distinctly  that  we 
have  a  separate  personality,  that  we  are  not  the  same  with  God  on  the 
one  hand,  or  nature  on  the  other.  Schelling  appeals  to  an  intellectual  in- 
tuition, which  is  one  with  the  Divine  Intelligence,  as  capable  of  gazing  on 
this  identity  of  existence.  But  this  intuition  is  acknowledged  by  him  to  be 
above  consciousness;  that  is,  as  we  reckon  it,  above  the  region  to  which 
man's  knowledge  can  reach,  that  is.  in  a  cloud-land  where  irradiated  mists 
may  be  mistaken  for  solid  bodies.  Certain  it  is,  that  all  the  intuitions 
which  we  can  discover  by  consciousness,  set  themselves  against  this  iden- 
tification of  ourselves  either  with  the  Divine  Intelligence  or  with  nature, 
this  identification  of  subject  and  object,  of  man  and  God.  But  with  all 
its  superlative  extravagance  it  contains  a  truth,  a  truth  not  in  the  systems 
of  Kant  or  Fichte  ;  this  is  the  correspondence  between  the  subjective  and 
objective,  both  being  represented  as  real  though  not  independent.  Never 
was  there  so  beautiful,  and,  let  us  add,  so  true  a  picture  drawn  of  the 
harmony  between  the  beautiful  in  the  mind  and  the  beautiful  in  nature,  as 
that  which  we  find  in  the  writings  of  Schelling  and  of  the  disciples  of  hia 


RELATION  OF  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO  INTELLIGENCE.   499 

school.  We  have  here  a  style  of  speculation  to  which  the  native  British 
philosophy  is  a  stranger,  and  which  appears  irresistibly  attractive  when 
presented  to  British  youth  of  fervent  intellect ;  and  they  are  too  often 
prepared,  in  their  admiration  of  the  mixture  of  truth  contained  in  the  sys- 
tem, to  embrace  the  error 'with  which  it  is  associated. 

It  was  felt  in  Germany  that  the  system  of  Schell'mg,  though  exquisitely 
beautiful,  was  little  better  than  a  speculative  rhapsody,  when  his  friend 
Hegel,  with  a  much  more  logical  mind,  set  about  amending  and  systema- 
tizing it.  We  do  not  propose  to  give  an  account  of  his  system.  We  do 
not  attempt  to  fathom  its  depths  or  expose  its  shallows ;  for  it  has  depths 
in  which  the  tallest  intellects  would  lose  themselves  if  allured  into  them, 
and  it  has  shallows  which  the  most  superficial  can  see  and  point  out.  He 
is  reported  to  have  said,  "  There  is  only  one  person  who  understands  me, 
and  he  does  not  understand  me."  Not  having  the  honour  to  be  this  per- 
son, we  make  no  pretensions  to  a  thorough  understanding  of  Hegel.  For- 
tunately, we  have  to  consider  his  system  only  in  one  aspect. 

In  the  systems  of  Kant  and  Fichte,  the  relation  between  the  subjective 
and  the  objective  lias  disappeared,  fir  the  whole  is  the  creation  of  the  sub- 
■ective.  In  the  system  of  Schelling,  the  relation  has  reappeared,  but  has 
been  accounted  for  in  a  most  unsatisfactory  manner.  In  the  system  of 
Hegel,  the  relation  is  all  in  all.  The  subjective  has  no  separate  existence, 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  the  objective  on  the  other  hand ;  they  exist  only  in 
relation  to  each  other.  The  relation  is  here  acknowledged,  but  it  is  a 
relation  which  does  away  with  the  independent  existence  of  the  things 
related. 

Abandoning  the  intellectual  intention  of  Schelling  as  a  mere  gratuitous 
assumption,  he  attempts  to  show  how  all  things  are  developed  necessarily 
by  a  logical  process  which  is  not  assumed,  but  is,  in  its  development,  a 
proof  of  its  own  reality.  In  following  out  this  process,  be  begins  with  the 
most  general  and  abstract  notions,  such  as  "  Idea"  and  "  Being,"  and 
thence  develops  nature  and  mind.  In  all  this  he  reverses  the  natural  order 
followed  by  intelligence,  which  begins  with  things  individual  and  concrete 
as  they  present  themselves,  and  thence  rises  to  the  general  and  the  abstract. 
In  doing  so,  it  never  for  one  instant  supposes  that  the  abstract  or  general, 
such  as  "  Being,"  can  exist  independent  of  individual  things.  The  abstract 
is  a  part,  separately  considered,  of  the  concrete  whole.  The  general  is  the 
aggregate  of  qualities  in  which  individual  things  agree.  It  is  to  reverse 
the  proper  process  of  thought,  to  begin,  as  Hegel  does,  with  the  abstract, 
the  general.  It  is  to  contradict  the  clearest  declarations  of  thought  to 
deny  the  existence  of  the  individual,  whether  subject  or  object,  and  resolve 
all  into  a  relation.  The  relations  which  the  mind  discovers  are  relations 
among  individual  things. 

According  to  this   system,    the  All  presents  a  constant   evolution  of 


500      THEOKIES  OF  CONTINENTAL  PHILOSOPHERS  AS  TO 

nothing  becoming  something,  and  we  have  to  add,  of  something  falling 
back  into  nothing.  In  the  unfolding  of  this  theory,  he  represents  God 
as  attaining  to  consciousness  in  man,  and  the  whole  history  of  the  human 
race  as  a  succession  of  incarnations.  At  his  death,  which  was  occasioned 
by  cholera,  some  of  his  pupils  apotheosized  him  as  the  noblest  of  all  the 
self-conscious  developments  of  Deity.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  he  accounted 
for  the  harmonies  which  the  mind  discovers  in  the  universe.  To  philoso- 
phize on  nature,  he  says,  is  to  rethink  the  grand  thought  of  creation — it 
is  to  reproduce,  from  the  depths  of  the  soul,  the  creative  ideas  of  nature. 
In  a  journey  which  he  made  to  Paris,  he  was  greatly  entertained,  as  ha 
discovered  everywhere — in  nature  and  in  art,  in  man  as  an  individual,  and 
in  man  united  in  society — confirmations  of  his  system,  which  widened, 
like  vapours,  to  embrace  all  the  agreements  and  disagreements  in  exist- 
ence. 

It  might  easily  be  shown  that  this  ambitious  and  arrogant  system  de- 
stroys all  personality — that  is,  separate  consciousness  and  will — in  God, 
all  personality  in  man,  and  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  human  responsi- 
bility, and  the  immortality  of  the  soul  as  a  separate  existence.  All  this 
has  been  dwelt  on  by  the  schools  which  have  sot  themselves  in  opposition 
to  it  in  Germany.  And  this  argument  from  consequences  should  have  its 
weight,  for  any  s^ystem  which  sets  itself  against  these  truths,  cannot  be 
supported  by  such  evidence  as  they  can  adduce  in  their  favour.  Again, 
various  gaps  and  inconsistencies  have  been  pointed  out  in  it,  showing  that 
it  is  not  so  solid  a  structure  as  it  professes  to  be.  But  its  fundamental 
error  lies  in  this,  that  it  denies  the  separate  existence  of  individual  things 
— of  the  subject  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  object  on  the  other.  In  pro- 
fessing to  proceed  according  to  the  laws  of  thought,  it  begins  with  set- 
ting the  clearest  laws  of  thought  at  defiance,  and  must  wander  the  more 
the  farther  it  advances.  It  is  acknowledged,  even  in  Germany,  to  be  a 
failure.  It  fails,  in  particular,  to  account  for  the  correspondence  between 
mind  and  matter  regarded  as  separate  existences. 

It  should  be  added,  that  Herbart  met  these  idealistic  views  of  Kant, 
Fichte,  Schelling,  and  Hegel,  with  great  vigour  by  a  realistic  scheme,  in 
which  final  causes  once  more  have  their  proper  place.  But  his  realism 
is  professedly  a  rational  system  erected  on  certain  philosophic  principles, 
which  may  be  assailed  equally  with  the  grounds  taken  by  those  whom  he 
opposes,  and  will  not  find  much  favour  among  persons  in  our  country  who 
have  become  imbued  with  the  spirit  recommended  by  Lord  Bacon,  and 
followed  out,  though  with  but  imperfect  success,  by  Locke  and  Reid.  It 
is  only  by  proceeding  in  the  inductive  method  that  we  can  expect  fairly 
to  unfold  the  subjective  laws  of  mind  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  objective 
laws  of  nature  on  the  other,  and  then  discover  the  relation  between  them. 

In  the  speculations  of  all  these  philosophers,  notice  is  taken  of  a  most 


RELATION  OF  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO  INTELLIGENCE.   501 

important  class  of  facts,  which  have  very  much  escaped  the  attention  of 
British  writers.  But  while  we  acknowledge  this,  we  are  convinced,  at  the 
same  time,  that  the  correct  explanation  has  not  been  given  by  the  conti- 
nental speculatists.  In  the  days  of  Descartes  and  Spinoza,  the  questions 
discussed  turned  round  the  action  of  mind  upon  material  objects,  and  the 
action  of  material  objects  upon  mind.  But  from  the  time  of  Leibnitz,  and 
still  more  from  the  time  of  Kant,  a  new  set  of  questions  came  to  be  agi- 
tated in  regard  to  the  accordance  between  the  laws  of  the  mind  within, 
and  the  harmonies  of  external  nature  without.  Kant  and  Fiehte  referred 
this  to  the  mind  creating  the  order  which  it  contemplated,  Schelling  and 
Hegel  to  the  identity  of  subject  and  object,  of  the  world  within  and  the 
world  without.  But  none  of  these  hypotheses  meets  the  full  facts  of  the 
case,  nor  explains  the  whole  phenomena.  Leibnitz,  indeed,  had  a  glimpse 
of  the  truth,  but  failed  to  represent  it  fully  and  correctly.  The  facts  admit 
of  only  oue  satisfactory  explanation,  and  this  an  explanation  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with  the  doctrine  of  final  cause,  and  implying  a  specific  plan  on 
the  part  of  an  intelligent  being. 

For  mark,  that  we  have,  first,  a  set  of  internal  fads.  "We  have  in  the 
mind  perceptions  through  the  senses ;  we  have  certain  intelligent  aptitudes, 
such  as  the  generalizing  propensity,  ever  seeking  to  group  the  objects  it 
meets  with  into  classes,  and  causality,  anticipating  nature,  and  confidently 
looking  for  certain  effects  to  follow  agencies  now  in  operation ;  we  have 
instincts  and  affections  craving  for  external  objects  on  which  to  lavish 
themselves ;  and  we  have  a  sense  of  beauty,  longing  for  scenes  of  loveli- 
ness and  sublimity.  We  insist  that  these  internal  facts  be  not  set  aside, 
but  that  they  be  embraced  and  accounted  for  in  any  explanation  which 
may  be  offered.  It  will  not  do  to  refer  them,  with  certain  French  and 
British  writers,  to  sensations  and  impressions  from  without.  They  are 
evidently  powers,  instincts,  affections,  fundamental  laws  in  the  mind 
itself,  making  their  own  use  of  the  influences  which  may  come  in  from  the 
external  world. 

But,  secondly,  there  is  a  set  of  external  facts.  As  little  are  we  at  liberty 
to  overlook  them.  In  denying  them,  we  are,  in  the  very  act,  discarding 
the  dicta  of  consciousness,  and  the  very  constitutional  principles  of  intel- 
ligence in  the  mind ;  and  after  we  have  done  so,  there  remains  no  ground 
on  which  we  can  reason  on  this  or  on  any  other  subject.  Here,  in  this 
world  which  we  perceive,  are  bodies  endowed  with  wonderful  properties ; 
are  objects  grouped  into  classes,  and  with  interesting  correlations  subsist- 
ing between  them ;  are  events  causally  connected  together ;  and  scenes  of 
beauty  and  grandeur.  All  this  must  be  explained  by  a  hypothesis  ade- 
quate to  meet  the  case  obviously  presented,  and  no  part  of  all  this  can  be 
accounted  for  merely  by  the  inward  principles  of  the  mind,  except  on  tho 
ground  which  would  make  these  very  principles  delusive  and  a  delusion. 


502      THEORIES  OF  CONTINENTAL  PHILOSOPHERS  AS  TO 

We  have  thus  a  series  of  facts  in  congruity  with  each  other  within  the 
mind.  We  have  also  a  series  of  facts  in  beautiful  harmony  with  each 
other  without  the  mind.  But  we  have  more,  there  is  an  accordance  be- 
tween the  internal  and  external  facts.  "We  have  the  perceptions  of  one 
sense  confirmed  by  those  of  another  sense.  "We  have  instincts  impelling 
to  certain  operations,  and  we  find  ourselves  placed  in  a  state  of  things  in 
which  these  instincts  are  gratified,  and  in  being  so,  perform  acts  necessary 
to  our  welfare  and  our  very  existence.  "We  have  affections  general  and 
special,  and  we  fall  in  with  objects  to  call  them  forth,  and  on  which  to 
lavish  'them.  We  proceed  spontaneously  to  classify  objects  according  to 
certain  relations  of  shape,  quantity,  and  proportion,  and  actually  find  them 
distributed  into  groups  according  to  these  very  principle?.  We  anticipate 
that  the  same  cause  will  ever  produce  the  same  effect,  and  find  our  expec- 
tations realized  every  waking  hour  of  our  existence.  We  have  aesthetic 
tastes,  and  everywhere  there  are  harmonious  colours,  and  graceful  forms, 
and  lovely  scenes  to  gratify  them.  As  it  is  not  the  sound  which  produces 
the  ear  to  receive  it,  as  it  is  not  the  eye  which  creates  the  light  that  falls 
upon  it.  so  it  cannot  be  the  outward  harmonies  which  create  the  inward 
desire  to  discover  them,  and  the  capacity  to  observe  them  ;  nor  the  internal 
faculties  and  feelings  which  create  the  outward  harmonies.  Vie  are  ob- 
liged, if  we  would  account  for  the  whole  phenomena,  to  account  for  both 
classes  of  facts,  and  the  relation  between  them.  This  can  only  bo  done 
by  supposing  that  one  Intelligent  Being  instituted  both  series  of  facts  and 
their  mutual  accordance.  The  facts  round  which  the  German  philosophy 
has  been  moving,  are  thus  seen  to  bring  us  back  to  the  old  doctrine  of  our 
British  Theology.  It  is  only  by  calling  in  a  God  who  designs  and  exe- 
cutes, that  we  can  fully  or  rationally  account  for  facts,  which  we  cannot 
deny  without  denying  our  intelligence. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  doctrine  of  Final  Cause,  so  far  from  being  un- 
dermined or  shaken  by  these  speculations,  is  as  secure  as  ever — nay,  it 
stands  forth  with  new  illustrations  and  confirmations.  We  are  brought 
back  to  what  observant  minds  have  noticed  from  the  first,  (though  they 
had  not  always  expressed  it  correctly.)  a  concurrence  of  independent 
agencies  towards  the  production  of  a  given  end.  Hegel  is  laying  down 
an  utterly  mistaken  doctrine  when  (not  in  words  denying  final  cause)  he 
speaks  of  the  final  cause  of  a  thing  being  the  inward  nature  of  a  thing,  or 
a  tiling  following  its  inward  nature ;  final  cause  is  the  co-operation  of  a 
number  of  independent  things  to  accomplish  what  is  evidently  an  end. 
In  particular,  there  is  need  of  a  correspondence  of  the  external  and  inter- 
nal in  order  to  our  inward  knowledge,  and  to  our  experience  of  the  outwad 
world.  The  phenomenon  cannot  be  explained  by  an  internal  order  pro- 
jecting itself  upon  the  external  world ;  for,  as  Herbart  asks,  if  it  be  by 
some  necessary  form  of  the  understanding  that  final  cause  is  imposed  on 


RELATION  OF  LAWS  OF  NATURE  TO  INTELLIGENCE.   503 

things,  how  are  we  to  account  for  the  fact  that  we  do  not  see  the  final 
cause  in  regard  to  every  occurrence  ?  How  is  it,  in  particular,  that  we 
discover  it  only  in  those  cases  in  which  we  notice  a  concurrence  of  agen- 
cies acting  independently  of  the  laws  of  thought  within  ourselves?  All 
this  can  easily  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  it  needs  objective 
evidence  to  lead  us  to  discover  final  cause ;  but  is  inexplicable  if  the  pro- 
cess proceeds  from  a  merely  subjective  principle.  But,  without  pressing 
this  difficulty,  we  plant  ourselves  on  ground  from  which  we  can  never  be 
dislodged,  when  we  maintain  that  the  outward  is  real  and  that  the  inward 
is  real,  and  that  there  is  proof  of  plan  and  intelligence  in  the  correspon- 
dence instituted  between  them. 

At  the  close  of  this  review,  we  find  ourselves  shut  up  into  a  Pre-Estab- 
lished  Harmony.  But  it  is  not  the  fanciful  doctrine  of  Leibnitz.  Accord- 
ing to  him,  no  one  power  or  monad  can  operate  upon  any  other,  but  each 
fulfils  its  function  independent  of  all  others,  and  yet  in  harmony  with  all 
others.  This  seems  to  us  quite  inconsistent  with  what  we  see  everywhere, 
the  action  of  objects  on  each  other.  The  Pre-Established  Harmony  which 
we  advocate,  pre-supposes  the  action  of  matter  on  matter,  of  matter  on 
mind,  and  mind  on  matter,  and  the  harmony  is  manifested  in  the  benefi- 
cence of  their  mutual  operation. 

This  Pre-Established  Harmony  manifests  itself  in  two  forms. 

First,  Agents  mental  and  material  have  powers  or  properties  which  fit 
into  each  other,  and  enable  them  to  co-operate  in  producing  consistent  and 
bountiful  results.  So  far  from  supposing  that  they  do  not  act  on  each 
other,  we  affirm,  that  they  do  act,  but  act  in  harmony. 

Secondly,  There  has  been  an  original  collocation  of  agents,  whereby 
concordant  results  are  produced  without  any  reciprocal  action.  The  lily 
that  grows  in  one  garden,  assumes  the  same  forms  and  colours  as  the  lily 
which  grows  in  another  garden.  The  fish  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone 
epoch  had  the  same  general  form  as  the  fish  which  still  swims  in  our  seas. 
But  these  correspondences  do  not  arise  from  any  mystic  or  magnetic  influ- 
ence of  the  one  upon  the  other,  but  because  causes  have  been  instituted 
and  arrangements  made,  which  produce  the  one  in  unison  with  the  other. 
The  comparison  of  Leibnitz  here  applies  ;  the  two  correspond  as  two  time- 
pieces, not  because  of  any  mutual  influence,  but  because  each  has  been  so 
constituted,  that  it  moves  in  harmony  with  the  other. 

We  cannot  comprehend  the  harmonies  of  the  universe  without  admit- 
ting and  calling  in  both  these  principles. 


CHAPTER   III. 

TYPICAL  SYSTEMS  OF  NATURE  AND  REVELATION. 

SECT.  I. THE  OLD  TESTAMENT    TYPES. 

In  looking  at  any  one  department  of  conternporaneciua 
nature,  we  discover  that  all  objects  and  events  are  con- 
formed to  a  plan.  Organisms  differing  from  each  other 
in  their  constituent  elements  have  the  same  relations  of 
parts,  and  differing  from  each  other  in  use,  are  cast  in 
the  same  general  mould.  Again,  looking  at  certain  de- 
partments of  successive  nature,  we  find  that  objects  in  one 
epoch  are  an  anticipation  ox  prediction  of  objects  to  ap- 
pear at  a  later  epoch.  The  science  of  embryology  shows 
that  there  are  systematic  stages  of  progression  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  young  of  all  animals.  In  the  Psalm  which 
celebrates  the  omniscience  of  God,  this  remarkable  lan- 
guage is  employed  : — "  I  will  praise  Thee  ;  for  I  am 
fearfully  and  wonderfully  made  :  marvellous  are 
Thy  works  ;  and  that  my  soul  knowetii  right  well. 
My  substance  was  not  hid  from  Thee,  when  I  was 
made  in  secret,  and  curiously  wrought  in  the  lowest 
parts  of  the  earth.  thine  eyes  did  see  my  substance, 
yet  being  unperfect;  and  in  thy  book  all  my  membees 
were  written,  which  in  continuance  were  fashioned, 

WHEN  AS    YET    THERE  WAS    NONE    OF    THEM."       These    two 

great  truths  are  seen  in  beautiful  combination  in  geology, 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES.  505 

which  reveals  a  typical  system,  that  is,  all  things  formed 
after  a  type,  in  every  age,  and  also  a  grand  system  of 
prophecy,  in  which  the  past  ever  points  to  the  future, 
and'  the  future  appears  as  the  accomplishment  of  the 
presentiments  of  the  past.  Lower  animals  appear  as  a 
prognostication  of  higher,  and  the  higher  come  as  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prediction  set  forth  in  the  lower,  and 
this  not  hy  any  physical  emanation  of  the  one  from  the 
other,  but  according  to  the  eternal  plan  of  Him  who 
hath  therein  showed  the  immutability  of  His  counsel. 
There  is  an  order  in  successive,  even  as  there  is  an  order 
in  contemporaneous  nature  ;  but  as  the  one  plant  does 
not  produce  the  other  plant,  which  in  the  same  type  may 
be  growing  alongside  of  it,  so  neither  does  a  species  of 
animal  in  one  age  produce  the  homologous  species  in  a 
succeeding  age.  In  this  divinely-predetermined  progres- 
sion man  stands  as  the  end  or  consummation  of  a  process 
which  had  been  going  on  since  the  dawn  of  creation. 

Views  like  these  have  been  floating  before  the  minds 
of  deep  thinkers  and  large-minded  observers  for  the  last 
two  or  three  ages,  and  were  expressed  by  some  who  did 
not  discover  their  true  meaning.  We  find  Herder  writ- 
ing, at  the  end  of  last  century,  "  See  how  the  different 
classes  of  creation  run  into  each  other  !  How  do  the 
organizations  ascend  and  struggle  upward  from  all  points 
on  all  sides  !  And  then,  again,  what  a  close  resemblance 
between  them  !  Precisely  as  if,  on  all  our  earth,  the 
form-abounding  mother  had  proposed  to  herself  but  one 
type,  one  proto-plasma,  according  to  which,  and  for  which, 
she  formed  them  all.  Know  thou  what  this  form  is.  It 
is  the  identical  one  which  man  also  wears.  It  is  more 
evident  internally  than  it  is  externally.  Even  in  insecta 
an  analogon  of  the  human  anatomy  has  been  discovered, 
though,  compared  with  ours,  enveloped  and  seemingly 


506  THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES. 

disproportionate.  The  different  members,  and  conse- 
quently also  the  powers  which  work  in  them,  are  yet 
undeveloped,  not  organized  to  our  fulness  of  life.  It 
seems  to  me  that  throughout  creation  this  finger-mark  of 
nature  is  the  Ariadne  thread  that  conducts  through  the 
labyrinth  of  animal  forms,  ascending  and  descending."* 
A  similar  passage,  very  probably  suggested  by  that  quoted 
from  Herder,  (but  without  any  acknowledgement  to  this 
effect,)  is  found  in  Coleridge's  Aids  to  Rerlection.f  "  The 
metal  at  its  height  seems  a  mute  prophecy  of  the  coming 
vegetation,  into  a  mimic  resemblance  of  which  it  crystal- 
izes.  The  blossom  and  flower,  the  acme  of  vegetable 
life,  divides  into  component  organs  with  reciprocal  func- 
tions, and  by  instinctive  motions  and  approximations 
seems  impatient  of  that  figure  by  which  it  is  differenced 
in  kind  from  the  flower-shaped  Psyche  that  flutters  with 
free  wing  above  it.  And  wonderfully  in  the  insect  realm 
doth  the  irritability,  the  proper  seat  of  instinct,  while 
yet  the  nascent  sensibility  is  subordinate  thereto — most 
wonderfully,  I  say,  doth  the  muscular  life  in  the  insect, 
and  the  musculo-arteria  in  the  bird,  imitate  and  typi- 
cally rehearse  the  adaptive  understanding,  yea,  and  the 
moral  affections  and  charities  of  man.  Let  us  carry  our- 
selves back  in  spirit  to  the  mysterious  week,  the  teeming 
work-days  of  the  Creator,  as  they  rose  in  vision  before 
the  eye  of  the  inspired  historian  of  the  operations  of  the 
heavens  and  of  the  earth,  in  the  day  that  the  Lord  Grod 
made  the  earth  and  the  heavens.  And  who  that  watched 
their  ways  with  an  understanding  heart  could,  as  the 
vision  evolved  still  advanced  towards  him,  contemplate 
the  filial  and  loyal  bee,  the  home  building,  wedded  and 
divorceless  swallow,  and  above  all  the  manifoldly  intel- 
ligent ant  tribes,  with   their  commonwealths  and  con- 

*  Metempsychosis.  t  Apb.  xxxvL 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES.  507 

fedcracies,  their  warriors  and  miners,  the  husband  folk 
that  fold  in  their  tiny  flocks  on  the  honey's  leaf,  and  the 
virgin  sisters  with  the  holy  instinots  of  maternal  love 
detached,  and  in  selfless  purity,  and  not  say  in  himself, 
Behold  the  shadow  of  approaching  humanity,  the  sun 
rising  from  behind  in  the  kindling  morn  of  creation  !" 
Nor  are  these  the  visionary  dreams  of  a  poet  or  a  mystic, 
clothing  nature  in  forms  devised  by  his  own  fantasy ; 
they  are  (after  deducting  one  or  two  slight  misappre- 
hensions of  fact)  the  results  reached  by  the  profoundest 
inductive  science  of  our  times. 

Between  this  typical  system  in  nature  and  our  powers 
of  intelligence,  there  is  a  beautiful  correspondence. 
First,  there  is  in  the  human  mind  an  imagining  faculty, 
which  experiences  a  strange  delight  in  reproducing  what 
it  has  perceived  under  a  kind  of  ideal  or  pattern  form. 
We  have  seen,  let  us  suppose,  a  particular  plant,  say  the 
Victoria  Begina,  we  cannot  remember  every  insignificant 
particular  connected  with  the  number  of  its  ribs  or  veins, 
but  there  is  laid  up  in  our  minds  a  general  outline  of 
its  shape,  colour,  and  structure,  which  enables  us  on  any 
other  plant  of  the  sort  falling  under  our  notice,  at  once 
to  recognise  it  as  belonging  to  the  same  species.  The 
mind  seems  thus  to  idealize  to  some  extent  its  very  re- 
collections. And  then  in  the  higher  intellectual  processes 
of  abstraction  and  generalization,  it  abstracts  the  indif- 
ferent and  retains  the  essential,  and  strives  to  group  the 
innumerable  objects  which  it  meets  with  under  a  few 
heads,  by  means  of  their  common  qualities.  The  rela- 
tions thus  discovered,  cause  the  classes  and  individuals 
to  recur  again  and  again  to  the  mind  according  to  the  law 
of  association,  and  even  aid  the  mind  in  the  perception 
of  certain  kinds  of  beauty. 

These  are  the  topics  which  have  passed  before  us  m 


508  THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES. 

the  previous  part  of  this  Work.  We  are  now  to  trace 
another  correspondence — it  is  equally  wonderful — between 
the  typical  system  of  nature,  and  the  typical  system  of 
revelation,  and  to  show  that  this  second  is  as  admirably 
suited  as  the  first  to  the  native  capacity  and  tendencies 
of  the  mind. 

It  has  long  been  known  to  divines,  that  the  Word  of 
God  has  a  typical  system.  The  types  have  not  been 
always  expounded  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  judgment, 
or  in  accordance  with  the  principles  which  should  govern 
all  Scripture  interpretation.  Not  unfrequently  imagin- 
ation has  been  allowed  unreined  to  career  in  this  field 
at  will,  and  in  all  treatises  of  divinity,  the  word  type  has 
been  changed  from  its  scriptural  to  a  theological  sense. 
In  other  cases,  the  fanciful  interpretations  which  have 
collected  around  the  types  of  Scripture  have  led  men  of 
severe  critical  taste  to  reject  the  whole  system  as  visionary. 
Still  it  is  obvious  that  types  run  through  the  whole 
Word  of  God,  and  cannot  be  excluded  from  it  without 
mutilating  the  Old  Testament,  and  even  parts  of  the 
New  Testament,  so  as  to  deprive  them  of  some  of  their 
most  marked  features.  But  now  where  such  curious 
harmonies  and  prefigurations  have  been  detected  in  the 
organic  world,  we  may  be  able  to  show  that  no  one  is 
entitled  summarily  to  reject  Scripture  types  as  being 
contrary  to  reason,  or  the  analogy  of  things,  and  even  to 
trace  an  analogy  between  the  types  of  the  Works  and 
of  the  Word  of  God.  Not  that  the  two  systems  are  the 
same  ;  they  are  not  identical,  but  homologous  or  analo- 
gous. If  the  principles  which  we  have  been  unfolding 
are  well  founded,  there  should,  with  the  uniformity,  be 
also  a  diversity.  The  typical  system  of  the  animal  king- 
dom is  of  a  different  order  from  the  typical  system  of 
the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  and  when  we  rise  from  matter  to 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES.  509 

mind,  from  nature  to  revelation,  we  may  expect  the  typical 
system  to  be  of  a  higher  kind  than  that  which  pervades 
the  organic  world.  There  is  the  same  method  in  all,  and 
this  suited  to  the  intellectual  tendencies  of  mankind,  but 
it  is  varied  to  suit  the  end  which  each  has  to  accomplish. 
In  the  theological  use  of  the  phrase,  the  word  type  is 
confined  to  the  prefigurations  of  Christ  set  forth  in  the 
Old  Testament.  In  books  of  divinity  we  read  of  certain 
ordinances  as  the  type,  and  Christ  as  the  antitype.  But 
this  is  not  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  in  Scrip- 
ture. Mr.  Fairbairn,  in  his  able  work  on  Typology,  says, 
that  he  understands  the  word  in  the  theological  sense, 
but  adds,  "  as  employed  in  Scripture  it  is  used  with 
greater  latitude,  as  may  be  seen  by  consulting  in  the 
original  the  passages  referred  to,"  (Heb.  viii.  5  ;  1  Cor. 
x.  6  ;  Phil.  iii.  17  ;  1  Thess.  i.  7  ;  1  Peter  v.  3  ;  Kom. 
vi.  17.)  But  "  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men." 
We  do  not  know  what  right  divines  have  to  construct  a 
system  of  theological  types,  instead  of  a  system  of  Scrip- 
ture types.  We  are  sure  that  had  they  kept  to  the 
Scripture  use  of  the  term  instead  of  devising  a  theolo- 
gical sense,  they  would  have  been  saved  from  much  ex- 
travagance, and  have  evolved  much  more  truth.  The 
words  employed  in  Scripture  (ivno,,  dnod^h/fiun^  stand 
for  pattern-figures,  or  examples  ;  and  persons  living  in 
ages  widely  different  from  each  other,  and  events  having 
no  natural  connexion,  are  represented  as  being  constituted 
after  the  same  type  or  model.  There  are  typical  occur- 
rences mentioned  in  Scripture,  and  full  of  instruction, 
which  have  no  immediate  connexion  with  the  person  of 
Christ,  and  are  in  no  way  prefigurative  of  Him.  Thus 
the  judgments  of  God  fell  on  the  children  of  Israel  in 
the  wilderness  as  types  or  "  examples"  (1  Cor.  x.  11)  of 
a  method  of  procedure  which  is  for  ever  the  same,  and 


510  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT   TYPES. 

recorded  "for  our  admonition,"  in  order  to  shew  that  it 
will  be  put  in  execution  whenever  men  commit  similar 
deeds.  Types  did  not  cease  when  Christ  appeared  ;  there 
are  types  in  the  New  Testament  dispensation  (Phil.  iii. 
17  ;  1  Thess.  i.  7  ;  Horn.  vi.  17)  as  well  as  in  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation.  The  typical  system  of  the 
kingdom  of  grace  is  meant  fundamentally  and  primarily 
to  shew  that  God  proceeds  according  to  one  counsel  and 
purpose  from  age  to  age.  In  this  respect  there  is  an 
exact  correspondence  between  the  typical  systems  of  re- 
velation and  nature.  But  as  in  nature  there  are  fore- 
shadowings  revealed  by  embryology  and  geology,  so  in 
revelation  there  is  also  a  scheme,  and  this  a  very  grand 
scheme,  of  prefiguration.  In  the  natural  kingdom  all 
inferior  organisms  point  onward  and  upward  to  man  ;  in 
the  spiritual  kingdom  all  life  points  onward  and  upward 
to  Christ.  Theologians,  in  discussing  types,  have  con- 
fined their  attention  exclusively  to  these  prefigurations  ; 
but  in  neglecting  the  other  and  wider  view,  they  have 
not  only  missed  much  instruction,  but  have  not  been 
able  to  estimate  precisely  the  meaning  of  the  important 
truths  to  which  their  attention  has  been  called. 

It  strikes  us  that  a  typical  system  runs  through  the 
whole  Divine  economy  revealed  in  the  Word.  First, 
Adam  is  the  type  of  Man.  He  and  his  posterity  are  all 
of  the  same  essential  nature,  possessing  similar  powers 
of  intuition  and  understanding,  of  will  and  emotion,  of 
conscience  and  free  agency,  and  Grod  acts  towards  them 
in  the  dispensations  of  grace  as  in  the  dispensations  of 
nature,  as  being  one.  Then,  from  the  time  of  the  Fall, 
we  have  two  different  typical  forms,  the  one  after  the 
seed  of  the  serpent,  the  other  after  the  seed  of  the  woman. 
Henceforth  there  is  a  contest  between  the  serpent  and 
Him  who  is  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  serpent,  between 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES.  511 

the  flesh  and  the  Sjririt,  between  the  world  and  the 
Church.  Two  manner  of  people  are  now  seen  struggling 
in  the  womb  of  time — a  Cain  and  an  Abel,  an  Ishmael 
and  an  Isaac,  an  Esau  and  a  Jacob,  an  Absalom  and  a 
Solomon,  the  elder  born  after  the  flesh,  and  the  younger 
born  after  the  Spirit.  It  is  this  unity  of  figure  fully  as 
much  as  the  "  type"  of  sound  doctrine  which  gives  a  con- 
sistency, in  the  minds  of  believers,  to  our  religion  in  all 
ages  ;  which  enables  the  Christian  to  profit,  to  this  clay,  by 
the  teaching  of  the  Old  Testament ;  to  sing,  to  this  day, 
the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Psalms  of  David  ;  and  to  per- 
ceive and  feel  that  there  are  the  same  contests  now  as 
then,  the  same  contests  in  the  heart,  the  same  contests 
in  the  world,  between  the  evil  and  the  good  principle, 
between  the  first,  or  nature-born,  and  the  second,  or 
grace-born.  In  short,  there  are  now,  as  there  have  ever 
been,  but  two  men  on  our  earth  typical  or  representa- 
tive ;  the  first  man,  which  is  Adam,  the  second,  which  is 
Christ.  "  And  so  it  is  written,  The  first  man  Adam 
was  made  a  living  soul  ;  the  last  Adam  was  made  a 
quickening  spirit.  Howbeit  that  was  not  first  which  is 
spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural ;  and  afterward  that 
which  is  spiritual.  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth  earthy  ; 
the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven." 

There  appear  from  age  to  age  certain  great  leading 
powers  of  the  first  or  earthy  form,  distinguished  by  their 
audacity  and  the  oppression  which  they  exercise  over  the 
Church,  such  as  Cain  and  Lamech,  Ham  and  Nimrod, 
Egypt  and  Babylon.  "  They  have  consulted  together 
with  one  consent ;  they  are  confederates  against  thee  ; 
the  tabernacles  of  Edom  and  the  Ishmaelites,  of  Moab 
and  the  Hagarenes,  Gebal  and  Amnion  and  Amelek,  with 
the  inhabitants  of  Tyre  :  Assur  also  is  joined  with  them, 
they  bave  holpen  the  children  of  Lot."     These  are  repre- 


512  THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES. 

sented  in  Christian  times  by  Gog  and  Magog  and  Babylon 
But  we  must  confine  our  attention  here  to  the  examples 
of  the  better  type,  which  appear  and  reappear  throughout 
successive  ages,  and  chiefly,  in  this  section,  to  what  is, 
after  all,  the  most  important,  to  the  prefigurations  of 
Christ. 

It  had  been  determined,  in  eternity,  that,  "  He  whose 
delights  were  with  the  children  of  men,"  should  come  to 
our  earth  in  the  fulness  of  time.  He  is  called  "the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  •"  and  as 
soon  as  man  falls,  there  are  symbols  of  Him  :  "  Lo,  I 
come,  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me." 
The  prefigurations  of  Christ  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes : — typical  ordinances,  personages,  and  events. 
First,  There  is  a  number  of  ordinances,  more  or  less  of 
the  same  general  mould,  all  imparting  substantially  the 
same  instruction,  all  pointing  to  guilt  contracted,  to  God 
offended,  to  a  propitiation  provided,  and  to  acceptance 
secured  through  this  propitiation  ; — the  four  great  car- 
dinal truths  of  revealed  religion,  as  addressed  to  fallen 
man.  There  were  sacrifices,  in  which  the  offerer,  placing 
his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  animal,  and  devoting  it  to 
destruction  in  his  room  and  stead,  expressed  symbolically 
his  belief  in  those  great  saving  truths.  There  was  the 
tabernacle,  with  the  people  worshipping  outside,  and  the 
Shechinah,  which  had  to  be  sprinkled  with  blood,  in  its 
innermost  recesses,  pointing  to  an  offended1  God,  but  a 
God  who  was  to  be  propitiated  through  the  shedding  of 
blood.  There  was  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  with  the  tables 
of  the  law  inside,  and  the  pot  of  manna,  and  the  rod  that 
budded,  and,  over  all,  the  cherubim  shadowing  the  mercy- 
seat — fit  symbol  of  an  arrangement  by  which  the  law  is 
fulfilled,  and  provision  made  for  a  revival  of  life,  and  a 
supply  of  spiritual  food  by  a  God  ready  to  meet  with, 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  TYPES.  513 

and  to  commune  with  us  on  the  mercy-seat.  There  is 
the  scape-goat,  with  the  sins  of  the  people  laid  upon  it, 
pointing,  as  clearly  as  the  Baptist  did,  to  "  the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 

Secondly,  There  are  typical  persons,  such  as  Abel  and 
Enoch,  Noah  and  Abraham,  Moses  and  Aaron,  Samuel 
and  David,  Elijah  and  EKsha,  shadowing  the  prophetical, 
priestly,  and  kingly  offices  of  Christ.  From  the  fall 
downwards  there  is  a  succession  of  such  personages,  with 
their  individual  differences,  but  all  after  a  pre-determined 
model,  exhibiting  certain  features  of  character  in  as 
marked  a  manner  as  the  Jewish  race  show  certain  fea- 
tures of  countenance.  As  the  clouds  reflect  the  rays  of 
the  sun  before  he  appears  above  the  horizon,  so  each  of 
these,  though  dark  in  himself — alas  !  at  times,  shewing 
his  native  darkness,  reflects  certain  of  the  beams — most 
commonly  coloured,  of  the  Sun  of  Kighteousness,  and 
shows  that  he  is  about  to  shine  upon  our  world. 

Thirdly,  There  are  typical  events,  exhibiting  the  same 
truths  in  a  still  more  impressive  form.  There  is  the 
flood,  in  which  many  perish,  but  a  few,  that  is,  eight 
souls,  are  saved  by  an  ark  symbolical  of  the  Saviour. 
There  is  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  in  Avhich  the  inhabi- 
tants perish,  while  Lot  and  his  family  are  rescued  by  hea- 
venly interposition.  Most  instructive  of  all,  and,  there- 
fore, occupying  the  most  important  place,  there  is  the 
deliverance  from  Egypt.  The  state  of  the  Hebrews  as 
bondsmen,  the  deliverer  prepared  for  his  work  by  suffer- 
ing, the  method  of  the  deliverence  in  the  midst  of  con- 
tests and  judgments,  the  wonderfully  instructive  journey 
through  the  wilderness,  with  the  provision  made  for  the 
sustenance  of  the  people,  and  the  statutes  delivered  are 
as  certainly  anticipations  of  a  higher  redemption  to  fol- 
low, as  the  fish  and  reptiles'  digits  are  anticipations  of 

22* 


514  THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES. 

the  fingers  of  men.  It  is  all  true  history,  and  yet  it 
looks  as  if  it  were  a  parable  written  by  some  man  of  Grocl 
for  our  instruction.  We  are  trained  in  this  training  of 
the  children  of  Israel  ;  and  by  means  of  the  discipline 
through  which  they  were  put,  our  imagining  faculty  has 
acquired  some  of  our  clearest  and  liveliest,  some  of  our 
most  profound  and  comforting  representations  of  the 
method  of  redemption. 

But  we  cannot  understand  the  meaning  of  these  ordi- 
nances, personages,  and  events,  unless  we  take  along  with 
us  both  of  the  two  grand  principles  which  we  have  been 
unfolding  in  this  volume.  We  must  not  confine  our 
attention  to  their  general  homology,  we  must  take  into 
account  also  their  special  adaptations.  We  must  not 
look  upon  them  merely  as  prefigurations,  we  must  look 
upon  them  as  also  "  a  figure  for  the  time  then  present." 
(Heb.  ix.  9.)  These  typical  ordinances,  persons,  and 
events,  are  all  after  the  same  general  plan,  and  exhibit  in 
shadow  the  truths  which  the  sinner  most  requires  to  know, 
and  especially  the  person  and  work  of  the  expected  One 
unjder  interesting  and  instructive  aspects.  But  they  were 
all  at  the  same  time  adapted  with  exquisite  skill  to  their 
own  particular  age,  and  the  circumstances  of  which 
they  formed  a  part.  The  ordinances,  for  instance,  were 
appropriate  worship  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  re- 
quired to  observe  them,  and,  in  some  cases,  they  subserved 
important  national  and  civil  purposes.  The  persons  who 
figure  as  types  were  all  the  while  doing  a  work  for  their 
own  day,  and  were,  in  most  cases,  we  believe,  unconscious 
that  they  bore  a  representative  character — they  were 
conscious  only  of  looking  onward  to  the  light,  and  they 
wist  not  that  their  face  was  shining  with  the  reflection  of 
that  light.  The  events,  too,  did,  in  most  cases,  impart  a 
special  lesson  of  their  own,  and,  in  all  cases,  were  most 


THE   OLD   TESTAMENT   TYPES.  .  515 

important  links  in  the  chain  of  Providence.  But  just  as 
the  paddle  of  the  whale  serves  a  special  purpose,  but 
contains  divisions  not  needful  to  its  special  purpose; 
just  as  the  chick's  head  contains  typical  bones  not  re- 
quired in  order  to  its  extrusion  from  the  egg  ; — so  the 
Old  Testament  types,  while  each  accomplishes  an  end 
of  its  own,  have  all,  at  the  same  time,  certain  common 
features  of  a  prefigurative  character.  Like  the  different 
species  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  like  the 
answerable  organs  in  different  species,  they  diverge  on 
either  side  in  order  to  suit  a  purpose  ;  but,  meanwhile, 
they  are  all  after  one  pattern.  In  human  architecture, 
we  are  pleased  to  see  that  the  portico  and  the  passage 
leading  from  it  have  often  a  homology  to  the  temple  it- 
self. It  is  the  same  in  the  temple  of  God.  The  gate- 
way, and  the  pillars  and  avenues  of  approach,  present  the 
same  general  outline  as  the  temple  to  which  they  form  an 
entrance. 

The  whole  of  this  method  of  procedure  is  in  beautiful 
adaptation  to  the  native  tendencies  and  acquired  habits 
of  the  mind  of  man.  The  skilful  teacher  is  accustomed 
to  instruct  his  younger  pupils  by  means  of  signs,  and 
pictures,  and  comparisons  ;  it  is  thus  that  he  conveys 
the  ideas  of  remote  objects  and  abstract  truths.  In  the 
simpler  stages  of  society,  mankind  can  be  taught  general 
truths  only  by  symbols  and  parables.  Hence  we  find 
most  heathen  religions  becoming  mythic,  or  explaining 
their  mysteries  by  allegories  or  national  incidents.  The 
great  exemplar  of  the  ancient  philosophy,  and  the  grand 
archetype  of  modern  science,  were  alike  distinguished  by 
their  possessing  the  power  of  comparison  in  a  high  de- 
gree, and  both  have  told  us  that  man  is  best  instructed 
by  similitudes.  "  It  is  difficult/'  says  the  Guest  in  the 
Statesman   of  Plato,   "fully  to   exhibit   greater   things 


516  THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    TYPES. 

without  the  use  of  patterns,"  (.T«^«&/j^«nif.)  Lord 
Bacon,  in  more  than  one  place,  has  declared,  "As  hiero- 
glyphics preceded  letters,  so  parables  are  older  than  argu- 
ments. And,  even  now,  if  any  one  wishes  to  pour  new 
light  into  any  human  intellect,  and  to  do  so  expediently 
and  pleasantly,  he  must  proceed  in  the  same  way,  and 
call  in  the  assistance  of  parables."  It  appears,  then,  that 
God  was  acting  in  accordance  with  the  nature  which  He 
had  given  us,  in  His  method  of  instructing  the  early 
Church.  In  Bible  history  there  are  no  myths,  but  real 
events  are  made  as  lively  as  myths,  and  convey  far  more 
important  instruction.  And,  even  in  Christian,  times, 
this  representative  system  has  been  felt  by  all,  but  espe- 
cially by  the  simple  and  unlettered,  to  be  a  powerful 
means  of  imparting  great  vividness  and  picturesqucness 
to  the  inspired  teaching.  The  truth  is  exhibited  ;  not,  as 
in  systems  of  divinity,  as  a  bare  abstraction  ;  not,  as  in 
the  words  of  Scripture,  by  a  phrase  expressive  enough, 
but  still  a  mere  counter,  bearing  no  resemblance  to  that 
which  it  represents  ;  but  by  a  picture  which  the  mind, 
as  it  were,  sees  before  it.  With  such  lively  images  before 
us,  we  feel  as  if  we  were  walking  amid  living  realities. 
We  find,  in  particular,  that  the  types  of  the  Bible  have 
ever  been  especial  favourites  with  the  "  common  people," 
who  experience  a  difficulty  in  seizing  an  abstraction,  or 
in  grasping  a  generalization,  but  feel  none  in  compre- 
hending truths  which  are  embodied  in  an  incident,  a 
person,  or  an  ordinance.  Take  away  the  typical  repre- 
sentations of  the  deeper  doctrines  of  the  Word  of  God, 
take  away  such  figures  as  sacrifices,  as  the  brazen  ser- 
pent, as  the  scape-goat,  the  city  of  refuge,  the  sprinklings 
and  ablutions  under  the  law — abstract  these  from  the 
apprehensions  of  the  Christian  who  moves  in  the  lower 
walks  of  life,  and  there  would  remain,  we  suspect,  scarcely 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  TYPES.  517 

any  idea — there  would  certainly  be  nothing  remaining  to 
enliven  and  engage  the  mind.  It  was  in  gracious  accom- 
modation to  the  same  peculiarities  of  our  nature,  that 
the  greatest  of  all  teachers,  "  He  who  knew  what  was  in 
man/'  taught  the  people  by  parables. 

The  right  conclusion  has  been  drawn  by  one  in  whose 
history  difficulties  have  merely  been  "  Schools  and  School- 
masters" to  strengthen  his  native  genius.  "  As  the  veil 
slowly  rises,"  says  Dr.  Hugh  Miller,  "  a  new  significancy 
seems  to  attach  to  all  creation.  The  Creator,  in  the  first 
ages  of  his  workings,  appears  to  have  been  associated 
with  what  he  wrought  simply  as  the  producer  or  author 
of  all  things  ;  but  even  in  these  ages,  as  scene  rose  after 
scene,  and  one  dynasty  of  the  inferior  animals  succeeded 
another,  there  was  strange  typical  indications,  which 
pre-Adamic  students  of  prophecy,  among  the  spiritual 
existences  of  the  universe,  might  possibly  have  aspired 
to  read — symbolical  indications  to  the  effect  that  the 
Creator  was,  in  the  future,  to  be  more  intimately  con- 
nected with  his  material  works  than  in  these  ages,  through 
a  glorious  creature  made  in  his  own  image  and  likeness. 
And  to  this  semblance  and  portraiture  of  the  Deity — 
the  first  Adam — all  the  merely  natural  symbols  seem  to 
refer.  But  in  the  eternal  decrees,  it  had  been  for  ever 
determined  that  the  union  of  the  Creator  with  creation 
was  not  to  be  a  mere  union  by  proxy  or  semblance  ;  and 
no  sooner  had  the  first  Adam  appeared  and  fallen,  than 
a  new  school  of  prophecy  began,  in  which  type  and 
symbol  were  mingled  with  what  had  now  its  first  exist- 
ence on  earth  ;  and  all  pointed  to  the  second  Adam, '  the 
Lord  from  Heaven.'*     In   Him  creation  and  the  Creator 

*  This  extract  is  from  a  notice  by  Dr.  Miller  of  the  Article  in  the  North  British  Review 
previously  referred  to.  In  the  same  article  he  shews  wherein  Oken  had  erred.  "  Hence 
the  remark  of  Oken,  that  'man  is  the  sum  total  of  all  the  animals.'  Hence,  too, but 
■with  a  still  broader  appreciation  of  the  homologies  which  bear  upon  the  lord  of  creation 


518  TYPICAL    NUMBEKS. 

met  in  reality,  and  not  in  semblance  ;  on  the  very  apex 
of  the  finished  pyramid  of  being  sits  the  adorable  Mon- 
arch of  all ; — as  the  son  of  Mary,  of  David,  of  the  first 
Adam,  the  created  of  God — as  God  and  the  Son  of  God, 
the  eternal  Creator  of  the  universe.  And  these — the  two 
Adams — form  the  main  theme  of  all  prophecy,  natural 
and  revealed.  And  that  type  and  symbol  should  refer 
not  only  to  the  second,  but,  as  held  by  such  men  as 
Agassiz  and  Owen,  to  the  first  Adam  also,  exemplifies, 
we  are  disposed  to  hold,  the  unity  of  the  style  of  Deity, 
and  serves  to  shew  that  it  was  He  who  created  the  worlds, 
that  dictated  the  Scriptures." 

SECT.    II. TYPICAL   XUMBERS. 

There  is  no  object  on  which  a  greater  amount  of 
extravagant  statement  has  been  made,  both  in  ancient 
and  modern  times,  than  the  significance  of  numbers. 
The  Pythagoreans,  and  later  Platonists,  evidently  sought 
for  some  inherent  power  in  numbers  to  account  for  the 
numeral  relations  that  appear  in  nature.  In  the  pages 
of  Philo-Juda3iis  and  Josephus,  numbers  have  a  theoso- 
phic    signification.     In  more    than   one   country,  certain 

as  their  central  type,  his  essentially  profane  and  erroneous  remark,  that  '  man  is  God 
manifest  in  flesh.'  Let  the  reader,  however,  observe  in  what  the  error  and  profantity 
consists.  There  is  a  loose  sense  in  which  man  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh ;— he  is  God's 
image  manifested  in  the  flesh  ;  and  an  image  or  likeness  is  a  manifestation,  or  making 
evident,  of  that  which  it  represents,  whether  it  be  an  image  or  likeness  of  body  or  mind. 
Originally,  at  least  in  moral  character,  man  was  a  manifestation  of  his  Maker,  and  in 
intellect  he  is  a  manifestation  of  his  Maker  still.  But  the  ciror  and  profanity  of  Oken 
consists  in  applying  that  to  man,  the  image — man,  the  being  in  whom  merely  the  hoino- 
logues  or  natural  prophecies  converge — which  is  exclusively  applied,  in  revelation,  to  a 
higher  and  more  real  manifestation  of  God  in  the  flesh— that  manifestation  of  very  God 
himself  which  has  formed  the  subject,  not  of  natural,  but  of  the  revealed  prophecies  rl  he 
transcendentalist  has  gone,  in  his  irreverent  ignorance,  a  step  too  far;  and  yet  his  mean- 
ing seems  real,  though  he  himself  mistook  its  nature,  and  employed  improper  language 
to  convey  it.'' — Witness,  Aug.  1851.  We  may  here  be  permitted  to  express  a  wish  that 
the  author  will  some  time  or  other  republish  a  selection  from  the  articles  in  the  Wttnest 
newspaper;  they  would  be  acknowledged  not  to  be  inferior  to  the  republicatlcns  from 
any  of  the  periodicals  of  our  age. 


TYPICAL   NUMBERS.  519 

numbers  have  been  supposed  to  have  a  magical  power. 
Commentators  have  discovered  a  mystical  meaning  in 
the  special  numbers  which  appear  and  reappear  so  con- 
stantly in  the  Word  of  G-od.  Others  have  not  known 
what  to  make  of  Scripture  numbers,  while  not  a  few  have 
looked  with  suspicion  upon  the  passages  which  contain 
them,  or  the  Bible,  because  it  is  so  full  of  them. 

The  train  of  observation  and  reflection  followed  in  this 
treatise,  may  help  us  to  discover  what  is  the  true  signifi- 
cancy  of  such  numbers. 

In  comprehending  and  recollecting  the  isolated  and 
scattered  phenomena  of  nature,  and  in  the  scientific  con- 
struction of  them,  in  order  to  these  ends,  man's  intellect 
needs  such  recurring  numbers,  and  when  he  does  not  find 
them  in  nature,  he  places  them  there.  Man  seeks  them, 
too,  in  chronology,  as  an  aid  at  once  to  the  memory, 
which  calls  up  events  by  the  law  of  correlation,  and  the 
contemplative  intellect,  which  loves  to  collect  objects  into 
groups.  So  strong  is  this  tendency,  that  when  such  re- 
lations are  not  found  among  events,  mankind  will  create 
them  from  the  stores  of  their  own  ingenuity,  and  will 
lengthen  or  shorten  periods  to  suit  them  to  the  measure 
of  their  Procrustes'  bed.  Hence  it  is,  that  in  the  specu- 
lations of  early  philosophers,  in  history  handed  down  by 
popular  tradition,  and  in  all  mythic  systems  of  religion, 
we  have  recurrent  numbers,  such  as  three  and  five,  seven 
and  ten.  The  existence  of  this  mystical  tendency  in  pre- 
mature scientific  speculation,  should  not  lead  us,  by  an 
extreme  reaction,  to  affirm  that  numbers  have  no  signj- 
ficancy  in  nature  ;  it  should  merely  guard  us  from 
adopting  them  too  readily — that  is,  it  should  prevent  us 
from  receiving  them  without  inductive  evidence,  which 
is  now,  however,  superabundant.  On  a  like  principle, 
the  numeral  relations  of  mythic  religions  should  not  be 


520  TYPICAL    NUMBERS. 

held  as  proving  that  biblical  institutions  and  narratives 
are  fabulous,  simply  because  they  contain  recurrent  num- 
bers. It  has  been  far  too  readily  assumed,  by  certain 
neological  critics  in  Germany  and  their  followers  in  this 
/'m^  country,  we  have  shewn  their  dissecting  acuteness  by 
pruning  away — on  the  pretence  of  improving  it — the 
tree  of  life,  till  they  have  destroyed  not  only  its  lovely 
form,  but  its  very  vital  principle,  that  every  portion  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  is  to  be  regarded' as  fabulous 
which  contains  a  repetition  of  numbers. 

Physical  science  shews  that  numbers  have  a  signi- 
ficancy  in  every  department  of  nature.  Two  appears 
as  the  typical  number  in  the  lowest  class  of  plants,  and 
regulates  that  pairing  or  marriage  of  plants  and  animals 
which  is  one  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  organic 
kingdoms.  Three  is  the  characteristic  number  of  that 
class  of  plants  which  have  parallel  veined  leaves,  and  is 
the  number  of  joints  in  the  typical  digit.  Four  is  a  sig- 
nificent  number  in  those  beautiful  crystals  which  show 
that  minerals  (as  well  as  stars)  have  their  geometry. 
Five  is  the  model  number  of  the  highest  class  of  plants — 
those  with  reticulated  veins  and  branches,  is  the  typical 
number  of  the  fingers  and  toes  of  vertebrate  animals,  and 
is  of  frequent  occurrence  among  star-fishes.  Six  is  the 
proportional  number  of  carbon  in  chemistry,  and  3x2 
is  a  common  number  in  the  floral  organs  of  monoctyle- 
donous  plants,  such  as  the  lilies  of  the  field,  which  we  are 
exhorted  to  consider.  Seven  appears  as  significant  only 
in  a  single  order  of  plants,  (Heptandria,)  but  has  an  im- 
portance in  the  animal  kingdom,  where  it  is  the  number 
of  vertebra3  in  the  neck  of  mammalia,  and  according  to 
M.  Edwards,  the  typical  number  of  rings  in  the  head, 
in  the  thorax,  and  in  the  abdomen  of  Crustacea.  Eight 
is   the   definite    number    in    chemical    composition   for 


TYPICAL    NUMBERS.  521 

oxygen,  the  most  useful  element  in  nature,  and  is 
very  common  in  the  organs  of  sea-jellies.  Nine  seems 
to  be  rare  in  the  organic  kingdoms.  Ten  or  5  x  2  is 
found  in  star-fishes,  and  is  the  number  of  digits  on  the 
fore  and  hind  limbs  of  animals.  Without  going  over 
any  more  individual  numbers,  we  find  multiple  numbers 
acting  an  important  part  in  chemical  compositions,  and 
in  the  organs  of  flowers  ;  for  the  elements  unite  in  multi- 
ple relations,  and  the  stamens  are  often  the  multiples 
of  the  petals.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  appendages 
of  the  plant  we  have  a  strange  series,  1,  2,  3,  5,  8, 13,  21, 
34,  which  was  supposed  to  possess  virtues  of  an  old  date, 
and  before  it  was  discovered  in  the  plant.  In  natural 
philosophy  the  highest  law,  that  of  forces  acting  from  a 
centre,  proceeds  according  to  the  square  of  numbers.  In 
the  curves  and  relative  lengths  of  branches  of  plants, 
there  are  evidently  quantitative  relations  which  mathe- 
matics have  not  been  able  to  seize  and  express. 

He  must  be  a  bold  man  who  will  insist,  that  should 
the  God  who  fashioned  nature  be  pleased  to  give  to  man 
a  revelation  of  His  will,  in  order  to  solve  certain  great 
problems  started  by  the  existence  of  sin  in  the  world,  He 
shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  make  His  dispensations  of  pro- 
vidence, and  His  institutions  for  instruction  and  worship, 
bear  a  certain  relation  to  each  other.  It  is  presumptuous, 
above  all  things,  in  any  one  to  condemn  as  mythic  every 
part  of  the  Bible  narrative  which  contains  a  recurrent 
number.  This  principle  would  turn  the  discoveries  of 
the  most  eminent  scientific  men  in  modern  times — the 
discoveries  of  Kepler,  of  Newton,  of  Decandolle,  and 
Dalton  into  myths.  The  constant  recurrence  of  certain 
numbers  in  the  self-devised  history  of  tradition,  and  the 
self-formed  religions  embodied  in  myths,  is  an  acknow- 
ledgment on  the  part  of  man,  that  he  needs  such  relations 


522  TYPICAL    NUMBERS. 

to  enable  him  to  follow  history  and  comprehend  doctrine. 
And  may  not  He  who  knows  what  is  the  nature  of  man, 
suit  Himself  to  the  creatures  fashioned  by  Him,  by  insti- 
tuting, in  the  realities  of  His  dispensations  and  His  ordi- 
nances, those  very  numerical  relations  which  man  will 
feign  by  his  imagination,  where  the  actual  state  of  things 
does  not  present  them  ? 

We  certainly  do  meet  in  Bible  narrative  with  a  re- 
currence of  certain  numbers,  and  these  not  unlike  the 
numbers  which  recent  science  has  disclosed  in  nature. 
The  beasts  were  gathered  into  the  ark,  even  as  they 
are  assorted  in  nature,  in  pairs  ;  and  our  Lord  sent  out 
His  disciples,  as  the  fowls  of  the  air  are  sent  out,  two 
and  two,  to  support  and  comfort  each  other.  Three  de- 
rives its  significancy  from  the  very  nature  of  God,  and 
appears  in  the  triple  sacerdotal  blessing  of  Jacob,  (Gen. 
xlviii.  16  ;)  in  the  thrice  holy  of  Isaiah,  (vi.  3  ;)  in  the 
three  great  religious  festivals  ;  in  Jonah  being  three  days 
in  the  whale's  belly  ;  in  our  Lord  being  three  days  in  the 
grave  ;  and  in  the  threefold  judgments  denounced  in 
the  Book  of  Revelation,  where  the  tail  of  the  great  red 
dragon  draws  the  third  of  the  stars,  and  three  unclean 
spirits  issue  from  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and 
the  false  prophet.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  triad  is  the 
representative  of  Deity  in  many  religions,  and  appears  in 
the  three-forked  lightning  of  Jupiter,  the  trident  of  Nep- 
tune, the  three-headed  dog  of  Pluto,  the  tripod^f  Apollo, 
the  three  Fates,  three  Furies,  three  Graces,  and  thrice 
three  Muses.*  Four  appears  in  Scripture  in  the  altars, 
and  sanctuary,  and  holy  of  holies,  which  was  a  cube  ;  and 
groups  of  four  are  found  in  Revelation,  such  as,  heaven, 
earth,  sea,  and  fountains  of  waters  ;  kindred,  and  tongue, 

*  See  Article  in  American  Biblical  Repertory,  republished  in  British  and  Foreign 
Evangelical  Review,  June  1855. 


TYPICAL    NUMBERS.  523 

and  people,  and  nation.  Five  is  found  in  the  pillars  of 
the  courts  of  the  temple,  which  were  five  cubits  high, 
and  live  cubits  apart ;  and  in  the  ten  virgins,  five  of 
whom  were  wise,  and  five  foolish.  Six  is  once  or  twice 
mentioned  as  a  significant  number  in  Ezekiel.  Seven  is 
the  most  frequently  repeated  number  in  the  Bible.  We 
have  first  the  seven  days  of  creation  ;  then  the  seven  days 
of  the  week  ;  then  a  series  of  seasons  regulated  by  seven  ; 
the  seventh  year  was  a  Sabbatical  year,  and  7X7  gave 
a  year  of  jubilee  ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  canon  there  are 
the  seven  spirits  before  the  throne,  the  seven  churches  of 
Asia,  the  seven  branches  of  the  candlestick,  seven  angels 
with  seven  trumpets,  and  seven  vials  with  the  seven  last 
plagues.  The  number  ten  ajjpears  in  the  tithes  devoted 
to  God,  in  the  plagues  which  devasted  Egypt,  and  in 
the  commandments  delivered  amidst  the  thunders  of 
Sinai.  Twelve  was  the  number  of  the  sons  of  Joseph,  of 
the  tribes  of  God's  people,  and  of  the  Apostles  ;  the  holy 
city  measured  twelve  thousand  cubits  in  length,  breadth, 
and  height,  and  had  twelve  foundations,  twelve  gates,  and 
a  tree  of  life  which  bears  twelve  manner  of  fruits.  Multi- 
ple numbers  are  very  frequent.  Forty  days,  or  4  X  by  10, 
was  the  time  of  Moses'  sojourn  on  the  mount  with  God,  of 
Elijah's  journey  to  Horeb,  and  of  our  Lord's  temptation 
in  the  wilderness.  There  were  7  x  7  days  between  the 
passover  and  pentecost,  and  7X7  years  between  the 
times  of  jubilee.  The  Tabernacle  measured  ten  cubits  in 
breadth  and  length,  and  3  x  10  cubits  in  length  ;  there 
were  4  X  12  boards  in  its  frame,  anil  the  court  was  10  X 
10  cubits  long,  and  the  sacrifices  on  certain  occasions  were 
multiples  of  seven.  We  read  of  7  X  10  disciples  ;  Peter 
was  exhorted  to  forgive  his  brother  not  seven  times,  but 
seventy  times  seven,  and  the  redeemed  on  Mount  Zion 
are  12  x  12  thousand. 


524  TYPICAL    NUMBERS. 

This  method  of  instruction  is  in  admirable  adaptation 
to  the  constitution  of  man's  mind.  It  lends  distinctness 
to  the  incident,  it  helps  the  intellect  to  grasp  the  truth, 
and  the  memory  to  retain  it.  It  is  one  of  many  circum- 
stances which  adapt  the  Word  like  the  Works  of  God  to 
every  capacity,  to  persons  of  all  ages  and  sexes,  times 
and  countries.  By  these  and  similar  means,  the  greatest 
of  all  Teachers  still  encourages  little  children  to  come 
unto  Him,  when  other  teachers  would  forbid  them.  Its 
institutions  and  its  incidents  strike  the  fancy  and  are 
fixed  in  the  memory  of  youth  ;  they  interest  by  their  cor- 
respondences the  understanding  of  the  mature  man,  and 
are  found  wrapt  round  the  decaying  memory  of  old  age, 
the  burden  of  which  they  serve  to  lighten,  and  the  gloom 
of  which  they  irradiate. 

And  in  all  this,  whether  in  nature  or  in  the  Word,  we 
are  not  inclined  to  find  anything  mystical  or  even  mys- 
terious. We  are  not  disposed  to  believe  it  to  proceed 
from  any  inherent  power  of  numbers,  as  certain  mathe- 
maticians and  philosophists  have  imagined.  Nor  does  it 
imply  that  any  one  number  has  a  special  significance. 
We  have  quoted  so  many  cases  of  numeral  relation  in 
order  to  show  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  lower  numbers, 
odd  and  even,  appear  as  principles  of  co-ordination  both 
in  nature  and  in  the  Word.  No  doubt,  there  are  circum- 
stances which  have  determined  the  use  of  certain  num- 
bers. ThuSj  the  nature  of  the  plant,  as  having  an  axis, 
with  symmetrical  sides,  may  have  determinted  the  selec- 
tion of  the  odd  numbers  3  and  5  in  the  organs  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  The  recurrences  of  5  and  10  in 
human  enumeration  probably  originated  in  the  number 
of  the  digits.  The  triune  nature  of  Grod,  and  the  divine 
institution  of  the  Sabbath,  must  have  given  rise  to  the 
frequent  use  of  the  numbers  3  and  7 ;  and  the  circum- 


TYPICAL    SYSTEM    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.         525 

stance  that  the  patriarchs  were  12  in  number  must  have 
brought  series  of  twelves  in  its  train.  Still,  in  all  this 
there  is  no  evidence  of  there  being  any  power,  virtue,  or 
significance  in  any  one  number  considered  in  itself. 

We  are  not  even  inclined  to  look  upon  these  recurrent 
numbers  as  implying  any  mysterious  connexion,  as  theo- 
sophists  have  supposed,  between  objects  which  have  the 
same  number  attached  to  them.  We  do  not  conclude 
that  there  is  a  connexion  between  the  typical  organs  of 
dicotyledonous  plants  and  the  digits  of  animals,  because 
they  both  range  round  the  number  5.  Nor  are  we  to 
look  upon  biblical  events  as  related,  solely  because  they 
appear  under  the  same  number.  It  is  possible,  indeed, 
that  the  events  may  have  a  connexion  in  themselves, 
and  have  both  appeared  under  the  same  number  because 
of  this  connexion  ;  but  the  evidence  of  their  relation 
must  be  sought  otherwise  than  in  their  numerical  corre- 
spondence. In  vindicating  the  existence  of  these  nume- 
rical relations,  we  are  thus,  at  the  same  time,  laying  an 
effectual  arrest  on  the  abuse  of  them.  We  do  not  admit 
them  in  natural  science,  except  on  evidence  which  can 
stand  the  rules  of  inductive  logic  ;  and  we  should  not 
allow  them  in  theology,  except  on  grounds  which  can 
stand  the  tests  of  sound  biblical  interpretation. 

SECT.    III. TYPICAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE   NEW    TESTAMENT. 

In  looking  at  any  one  epoch  of  our  world's  history,  we 
find  traces  of  contemporaneous  order  and  fitness.  In 
comparing  any  one  epoch  with  the  preceding  one,  we 
find  traces  of  a  progression.  It  should  be  admitted, 
however,  that  we  are  not  altogether  in  circumstances  to 
determine  the  character  of  that  progression.  In  physical 
and  organic  nature,  it  seems,  so  far  as  we  can  discover, 


526  TYPICAL   SYSTEM 

to  be  an  advance  from  the  simple  to  the  manifold  ;  from 
the  more  general  to  the  more  special  ;  from  the  type  to 
the  archetype.  It  rises  from  the  crystal  to  the  plant  and 
the  animal.  Its  foundation  shows  right  lines  and  regu- 
lar figures,  while  the  superstructure  sweeps  out  into 
varied  curves.  There  is  first  the  simple  capacity  in  the 
germ,  the  bud,  and  then  the  unfolding  of  all  the  capabi- 
lities in  distinct  members. 

Is  not  this  the  very  law  of  the  advance  of  the  human 
mind  ?  It  begins  with  the  simple  and  goes  on  to  the 
multiple.  It  craves  first  for  mere  milk,  and  then  ac- 
quires a  relish  for  strong  meat  and  varied  dainties.  In 
their  literary  tastes,  men  like  first  very  easy  and  trans- 
parent narrative  in  prose,  and  songs  with  the  simplest 
cadences  ;  then  more  elaborate  prose  and  more  adorned 
poetry  ;  and  finally,  perhaps,  a  style,  to  use  the  language 
of  Burke,  between  prose  and  poetry,  and  better  than 
either.  Is  not  the  history  of  human  civilisation  an  ad- 
vance from  a  union  of  labour  to  a  division  of  labour  ;  from 
few  and  simple  to  many  and  complicated  relations  ?  Is 
not  the  advance  in  physical  science  (as  M.  Comte  has 
shown)  from  pure  space  to  body,  to  bodies  with  chemical 
affinities,  on  to  bodies  organized  ? 

It  is  evident  that  there  is  some  kind  of  progress  in  the 
history  of  religion,  though  we  are  not  in  a  position  to 
apprehend  it  closely,  or  unfold  it  fully.  All  the  essen- 
tial and  saving  truths  are  embraced  in  the  earliest  reve- 
lation of  Grod,  but  they  are  in  the  bud,  they  are  hopeful 
and  prophetic  ;  it  is  only  as  ages  advance  that  they  are 
expanded  to  the  view.  Under  the  Old  Testament  the 
shadow  becomes  more  and  more  defined  as  the  substance 
draws  nigh  ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  later  prophets  that  we 
discover  distinct  lineaments.  The  figure  .presented  in 
the  first  prediction  is  as  large  as  it  ever  is  afterwards, 


OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  527 

but  its  lines  come  out  more  and  more  distantly  as  the 
light  approaches  nearer  and  nearer.  The  doctrine 
which  we  are  expounding,  be  it  observed,  is  not  the  vul- 
gar one  of  type  and  antitype,  but  that  of  typical  forms, 
serving  immediate  and  important  ends  in  the  age  in 
which  they  appeared,  but,  at  the  same  time,  epitomes  of 
an  archetype,  to  appear.  When  the  Archetype  presents 
Himself,  what  had  before  been  dim  is  now  distinct.  In 
the  scene  on  Calvary,  in  particular,  we  have  the  truths 
which  the  sinner  is  most  concerned  to  know,  of  sin  and 
salvation,  of  God  offended  and  God  pacified,  set  forth  in 
the  most  awfully,  and  yet  most  winningly,  impressive 
manner. 

There  seems  to  be  the  very  same  order  in  the  mode  of 
communicating  the  truth.  First,  there  are  symbols  of 
various  kinds,  then  prose  narrative  and  poetry  with 
simple  correlations,  then  richer  and  more  varied  ptoetry, 
and,  when  Ave  come  on  to  the  New  Testament,  interesting 
narrative,  with  interspersed  spoken  discourses  with  num- 
berless parallelisms  and  most  graceful  curvatures,  leading 
on  to  more  elaborate  and  logically  constructed  prose,  and 
the  whole  closing  with  a  book  in  which  prose,  poetry,  and 
symbol  are  combined. 

And  we  are  not  to  understand  that  the  scheme  of 
types,  as  we  have  explained  it,  disappears  on  the  appear- 
ance of  Christ,  or  with  the  close  of  the  inspired  canon. 
The  continued  operations  of  Christ  in  the  Church  are 
typical.  Let  us  compare  what  He  did  when  He  walked 
on  the  earth  in  His  human  person,  with  what  He  is  still 
doing  on  our  earth  as  He  walks  spiritually  in  the  midst 
of  the  lamps  which  He  has  kindled.  His  miracles,  which 
attested  His  divinity,  did  not  consist  in  ostentatious  dis- 
plays of  power ;  in  meteors  flashing  across  the  sky  ;  in 
rivers,  running  backward  to  their  source  ;  in  mountains 


528  TYPICAL   SYSTEM 

being  shaken  tc  their  centre  ;  or  in  the  moon  wandering 
from  her  orbit.  The  testimony  was  to  His  love  and 
compassion  as  well  as  His  power.  "  The  blind  receive 
their  sight,  and  the  lame  walk  ;  the  lepers  are  cleansed, 
and  the  deaf  hear ;  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor 
have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them."  Of  a  like  type 
are  His  operations  still.  They  clo  not  consist  in  displays 
of  physical  power  ; — but  in  opening  the  eyes  of  the  spi- 
ritually blind  ;  in  putting  activity  into  those  in  no  way 
disposed  to  the  service  of  godliness  ;  in  curing  all  man- 
ner of  soul-maladies  ;  in  gaining  access  to  the  most  ob- 
durate hearts  by  the  power  of  His  Spirit.  We  do  not 
affirm  that  the  one  set  of  acts  predicted  the  other — we 
venture  on  no  such  statement ;  but  we  maintain  that 
both  are  after  the  same  figure,  that  both  originate  in  the 
same  peculiarities  of  character,  and  that  both  are  ad- 
dressed to  us  as  homotyj)al  correspondences. 

We  still  live  under  a  system  of  types.  Just  as  all  the 
figures  in  the  Old  Testament  look  forward  to  Him  who 
is  the  principal  figure,  so  do  the  figures  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament look  back  to  Him.  But  there  is  this  difference 
between  the  former  and  the  latter  types,  that  the  latter, 
as  becometh  the  dispensation,  are  not  so  much  outward 
and  ceremonial  as  inward  and  spiritual.  There  is  a  close 
mystical  union  between  Him  and  each  of  His  people  ; 
He  and  they  are  said  to  be  one.  They  are  one  in  respect 
of  their  human  nature  ;  "It  behoved  Him  to  be  made 
like  unto  His  brethren,  and,  forasmuch  as  the  children 
are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  He  also  likewise  took 
part  of  the  same  ;" — "  He  took  on  Him,  not  the  nature 
of  angels,  but  the  seed  of  Abraham/'  and  "  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  man."  He  has  become,  too,  the  "  head 
of  the  body,  the  Church,"  "  the  beginning,  the  first- 
born  from   the   dead,"   and    is   the    "first-born   among 


OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  529 

many  brethren."  They  are  priests  under  Him  as  Chief 
Priest,  kings  under  Him  as  Sovereign.  By  his  appoint- 
ment they  are  "  predestinated  to  be  conformed  to  His 
image."  The  Godhead  once  more  issues  the  decree 
in  reference  to  this  man  and  to  that  man,  "  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness," — so  "  God 
creates  man  in  His  own  image,  in  the  likeness  of  God 
creates  He  him."  In  the  performance  of  this  decree, 
they  "suffer  with  Him,"  are  "crucified  together  with 
Him,"  are  "  dead  with  Him,"  "  buried  with  Him,"  and  as 
they  die  with  Him,  so  they  are  "  quickened  with  Him  ;" 
they  "  rise  with  Him,"  and  "  reign  with  Him."  In  this 
household  there  are  many  children,  and  there  are  differ- 
ences between  them  of  gift  and  taste  to  suit  them  to 
their  different  heaven-allotted  employments  ;  but  still  we 
may  discern  in  them  all  a  family  likeness,  and  the  image 
of  Him  who  hath  begotten  them.  In  this  perfect  system 
of  types,  the  whole  has  a  representative  in  every  part, 
and  every  part  is  a  symbol  of  the  whole.  Each  living 
stone  in  this  temple  is  carved  after  the  similitude  of  the 
whole  temple.  He  is  the  body,  and  every  member  in 
particular  is  after  the  pattern  of  the  whole  body.  Each 
branch,  each  leaf  of  this  Tree  of  Life,  is  an  image  of  the 
entire  tree. 

With  such  patterns  in  the  past  and  in  the  present,  the 
disciple  may  everywhere  be  instructed.  But  let  him 
remember,  meanwhile,  what  is  the  object  to  which  he 
should  chiefly  look.  It  is  pleasant  to  see  the  path  in 
which  we  walk  trodden  by  the  footsteps  of  the  flock,  but 
we  are  to  follow  the  flock  only  so  far  as  they  follow  the 
shepherd.  In  Him  we  have  the  image  of  the  invisible 
God  set  before  us  in  such  a  way  that  we  can  rise  to  a 
somewhat  clear,  and  an  altogether  satisfactory  apprehen- 
sion of  His  character.     It  is  when  the  soul  is  spread  out 

23 


530       •  TYPICAL   SYSTEM. 

before  Him,  and  directed  towards  Him,  that  His  likeness 
is  imprinted — as  by  a  sunbeam  process,  upon  the  tablet 
of  the  heart.  Looking  to  Him,  as  lifted  up  upon  the 
cross,  we  learn  of  Him  the  lessons  which  we  have  most 
need  to  learn— we  learn  of  Him  to  be  meek  and  lowly. 
A  similar  change,  but  differently  produced,  shall  take 
place  in  heaven.  In  the  Old  Testament  Church  they 
had  the  shadow  ;  in  the  New  Testament  Church  we  have 
the  image  ;  in  heaven  we  shall  have  the  substance — ■ 
which  as  we  behold,  we  shall  be  brightened  into  a  likeness 
to  His  glory — "  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is." 

It  appears,  then,  that  in  the  New  Testament  Church 
there  are  post-figurations  ;  but  there  are  also  pre-figura- 
tions.  In  spite  of  many  partial  relapses,  the  Church,  as  a 
whole,  is  advancing,  and  its  past  progress  is  but  an  ear- 
nest of  its  future  progress  till  it  cover  the  earth.  As  it 
advances,  if  not  so  simple,  or  perhaps  so  pure,  yet  it  is 
richer  and  fuller,  and  shall  inspire  and  fashion  a  greater 
diversity  of  character  and  of  phases  of  life,  and,  at  the  last, 
all  the  accumulated  stores  of  wealth,  civilisation,  and  in- 
tellect, shall  be  cast  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord. 

When  objects  lie  far  distant  from  us,  we  must  be  on 
our  guard  against  taking  brightened  clouds  for  sunlit 
lands  ;  but  we  think  we  see  some  real  truths,  lying,  we 
grant,  on  the  very  horizon  of  our  vision.  All  animal 
bodies  point  to  man  as  the  apex  of  the  earthly  hierarchy. 
Professor  Owen  tells  us  that  "all  the  parts  and  organs 
of  man  had  been  sketched  out,  in  anticipation,  so  to 
speak,  in  the  inferior  animals."  But  may  not  this  highest 
form  on  earth  point  to  a  still  higher  form  ?  Man's  body 
on  earth  may  be  but  a  preriguration  of  his  body  in  hea- 
ven. "But  some  will  say,  How  are  the  dead  raised  up, 
and  with  what  body  do  they  come  ?     The  Apostle  does 


OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  531 

not  give  a  direct  answer  to  this  question,  but  he  points  to 
certain  analogies,  or  rather  homceophytes,  which  shew  that 
while  the  body  preserves  its  identity,  it  will  be  changed 
into  a  nobler  form,  as  the  seed  is  changed  when  it  springs 
up  as  a  plant.  "It  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body  ;  for  there  is  a  natural  body  and  a  spiritual 
body,"  and  we  read  of  bodies  "  terrestrial,"  and  of  bodies 
"  celestial."  In  heaven,  then,  our  bodies  are  to  be  after 
a  higher  model,  "spiritual"  and  "  celestial."  It  doth  not 
yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  but  being  planted  in  the  like- 
ness of  His  death,  we  shall  also  be  planted  in  the  likeness 
of  His  resurrection,  and  when  He  appears  we  shall  be 
like  Him.  Our  bodies  shall  then  be  fashioned  like  unto 
His  glorious  body,  which  we  may  conceive  to  be  the  most 
sublimated  and  obedient  form  and  modification  of  mate- 
rial agency  ; — and  modern  science,  while  it  cannot  efface 
the  indelible  distinction  between  mind  and  matter,  is 
every  day  enlarging  our  conceptions  of  the  capacities  of 
matter.  Thus,  the  simplest  organism  points  by  its  struc- 
ture upward  to  man,  and  man's  earthly  frame  points  to 
his  heavenly  frame,  and  his  heavenly  frame  to  Christ's 
spiritual  body — and  we  see  that  all  animated  things  on 
earth  point  onward  to  His  Glorified  Humanity  as  the 
grand  Archetype  of  all  that  has  life. 

Professor  Owen  has  another  idea.  He  supposes  that 
in  other  worlds,  as  there  are  the  same  laws  of  light  and 
gravitation  as  on  our  earth,  there  may  also  be  like  organic 
structures:  "And  the  inference  as  the  possibility  of 
this  vertebrate  type  being  the  basis  of  the  organization  of 
some  of  the  inhabitants  of  other  planets,  will  not  appear 
so  hazardous  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  orbits  or 
protective  cavities  of  the  eyes  of  the  vertebrata  of  this 
planet  are  constructed  of  modified  vertebra?.  Our 
thoughts  are  free  to  soar  as  far  as  any  legitimate  analogy 


532         TYPICAL    SYSTEM    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT. 

may  seem  to  guide  them  rightly  in  the  boundless  ocean 
of  unknown  truth.  But  if  censure  be  merited  for  here 
indulging,  even  for  a  moment,  in  pure  speculation,  it 
may,  perhaps,  be  disarmed  by  the  reflection  that  the  dis- 
covery of  the  vertebrate  archetype  could  not  fail  to  sug- 
gest to  the  anatomist  many  possible  modifications  of  it 
beyond  those  we  know  to  have  been  realized  in  this  little 
orb  of  ours." 

If  there  be  any  truth  in  this  idea,  then  the  animated 
matter  of  other  worlds  may  point  to  the  same  Archetype 
as  the  animated  matter  of  this  world.  And  on  the  sup- 
position, what  a  significancy  would  be  given  to  the  hu- 
manity of  our  Lord  !  When  the  Word  became  flesh, 
the  Divinity  was  in  a  sense  humbled ;  and  when  the  In- 
carnate Word  ascended  into  heaven,  flesh  or  matter  was 
exalted,  and  made  to  serve  the  most  glorious  ends.  We 
thus  obtain  a  glimpse  of  a  way  in  which  matter,  through- 
out all  its  domains,  may  be  exalted  by  its  association  with 
the  Son  of  God  taking  our  likeness  ;  and  of  a  way,  too,  in 
which  other  worlds,  or  all  worlds,  and  other  creatures, 
even  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places,  may 
be  instructed  by  this  "  manifold  wisdom,"  and  by  which 
God  may  "  by  Him  reconcile  all  things  unto  Himself— 
by  Him,  I  say,  whether  they  be  things  in  earth,  or  things 
in  heaven." 

But  as  we  stand  gazing  on  our  ascending  Lord,  a 
cloud  wraps  Him  from  our  view,  and  we  hear,  as  it  were, 
a  voice  saying,  "  Why  stand  ye  here  gazing  ?"  and  bid- 
ding us  return  to  the  observation  of  things  clearly  within 
the  range  of  our  vision. 


APPENDIX. 


SELECTED   LIST   OF  PLANTS, 

ILLUSTRATING  ASSOCIATIONS    OF  COLOURS,  AND   RELATIONS 
OF  FORM  AND  COLOUR. — (p.  166.) 


Ranunculus  repens, 
R.  bulbosus,  . 
R.  netnorosus, 
Nasturtium  Indicum, 
Cheiranthus  alpinus, 
Viola  Curtisii, 
V.  lutea, 
Saxifraga  ligulata, 

S.  sarmentosa, 

S.  Aizoon, 

Cytisus  Laburnum, 

Anthyllis  vulneraria, 
Lathyrus  pratensis, 

Kennedya  monophylla, 

Cytisus  scoparius,  . 

Lotus  corniculatus, 


Dicotyledons. 

)  Corolla    yellow ;    purple   on  calyx,   on  leafc 
)      stalks,  and  on  leaf-sheaths. 
Corolla  yellow ;  tips  of  young  sepals  purple. 

|  Corolla  yellow ;  tips  of  sepals  purple. 

[  Flowers  yellow  and  purple. 

Corolla  white,  with  purple  spots;  the  yellow 

anthers  lie  on  the  purple  spots. 
Two   petals   white ;    three  are  spotted   with 

purple,  and  are  yellow  at  the  base. 
Leaves  yellow-green  and  red-purple;  corolla 

yellow   and    purple ;     ovary   first    yellow- 
green,  then  red-purple. 
Four  petals  yellow ;  the  fifth  is  yellow,  with 

a  purple  spot, 
Corolla  yellow  ;  tips  of  calyx  purple. 
Corolla  yellow;    the   odd   lobe   with   purple 

veins. 
Four  petals  purple ;  the  odd  petal  has  a  yellow 

spot. 
Flower  yellow;     the   odd   piece   has  purple 

streaks  on  the  inside. 
Calyx  yellow-green,  and  red-purple  streaks; 

odd  lobe  of  corolla  yellow,  with  purple  on 

the  outside. 


534 


APPENDIX. 


Swainsonia  purpurea,     . 
Hieracium  Pilosella, 
Aster  acris,  A.  spectabilis, 
A.  cordifolius,  A.  Novae  An- 

glias,  .... 
Rudbeckia  fulgida, 
Corvisartia  Helenium,    . 


Gloxinia  grandis,  . 

Ajuga  Chamsepitys, 
A.  pyramidalia, 
Galeopsis  Tetrahit, 
G.  versicolor, 
Melittis  grandiflora, 
Antirrhinum  Orontium, 
Euphrasia  officinalis, 

Linaria  Cymbalaria, 

Schizanthus  purpureus, 
Sarracenia  purpurea, 
Rurnex  pulcher,     . 
R.  Acetosa,   . 
R.  aquaticus, 


Pinus  sylvestris,  and  other 

Coniferse,  . 
Ficus  elastica, 
Drimys  Winteri,    . 

Taxodium  sempervirens, 


Lycaste  Skinneri,  . 


Corolla  red-purple ;  odd  lobe  with  a  white  eye. 
Flower  yellow,  outer  surface  of  ray  purple. 

Centre  yellow,  circumference  purple. 

Centre  purple,  circumference  yellow. 

Circumference  and  centre  yellow ;  inner  scales 
of  involucre  red-purple,  outer  scales  yellow- 
green;  stems  red-purple,  foliage  yellow- 
green. 

Odd  lobe  of  corolla  red-purple  inside;  calyx 
yellow-green ;  stalks  red-purple. 

Flower  yellow,  with  purple  on  odd  lobe. 

Flower  purple,  yellow  spot  on  odd  lobe. 

Odd  lobe  yellow  and  purple. 

Odd  lobe  yellow  and  purple. 

Flower  yellow,  purple  on  the  odd  lobe. 

Flower  purple,  yellow  on  the  odd  lobe. 

Corolla  purple  streaked,  yellow  on  the  odd 
lobe. 

Corolla  purple,  odd  lobe  with  yellow  spots 
and  yellow  hairs. 

Odd  lobe  of  corolla  yellow  and  purple. 

Pitcher  red-purple  and  yellow-green. 

Anthers  purple  below,  j^ellow  above. 

Perianth  red-purple  and  yellow-green. 

Stem  red-purple ;  dense  masses  of  yellow- 
green  flowers ;  the  latter  have  sometimes 
red-purple  streaks. 

■  Young  cones  purple  and  citrine. 

Buds  red-purple,  leaves  yellow-green. 

Young  shoot  red-purple,  young  leaf  yellow- 
green. 

Young  shoot  yellow-green;  more  advanced, 
red-purple ;  when  older,  it  is  citrine. 


Monocotyledons. 

Sepals,  outside  yellow-green,  inside  red- 
purple  ;   two  upper  petals  white,  or  yellow 

"  with  purple  spots;  third  petal  yellow  and 
purple  spots. 


APPENDIX. 


535 


Brassia  verrucosa, 


Oncidium  Cavendishii,    . 
Epidendrum  cochleatum, 
Lycaste  aromatica, 
Cattleya  Loddigesii, 
Oncidium  Papilio, 
Cypripedium  venustum, 


Listera  cordata, 
Iris  pseudacorus,    . 

I.  Germanica, 

I.  Tricolor,     . 
Pandanus  odoratissimus, 

Caladium  pictum,  . 

Strelitzia,  several  species, 

Curcuma  cordata,  and 
C.  ovata, 

Juncus  compressus, 
Aveua  pratensis,    . 

Papyrus  antiquorum,     . 


Sepals  and  two  upper  petals  yellow-green  and 
red-purple ;  third  petal  white,  with  green 
warts  and  yellowish  eye;  flower-stalks 
purple. 

-  Third  petal  yellow  and  purple. 


Leaves  red-purple  and  yellow-green. 

Petals  yellow-green  and  red-purple;  bract 
yellow-green,  with  red-purple  line  on  the 
midrib,  and  one  near  each  margin ;  ovary 
yellow-green,  with  red-purple  lines  corre- 
sponding to  the  adherent  edges  of  the 
pieces  of  which  it  consists. 

Flowers  red-purple  and  yellow-green. 

Flower  yellow,  with  purple  streaks ;  stamens 
variegated  with  purple. 

Calyx  yellow  and  purple ;  corolla  purple ; 
pollen  yellow. 

Petals  yellow;  sepals  yellow  and  purple. 

Teeth  and  edge  of  leaf  red-purple,  centre 
yellow-green. 

Centre  of  leef  red-purple,  edge  of  leaf  yellow- 
green. 

Leaf  yellow-green,  leaf-stalk  red-purple;  se- 
pals orange ;  petals  blue. 

Tip  of  bracts  red-purple,  base  of  bracts  yel- 
low-green ;  flower  yellow. 

Flower  russet  and  green. 

Glumes  citrine,  with  purple  streaks  and 
purple  awn ;  anthers  yellow  and  purple. 

Sheaths  red-purple ;  stalks  yellow-green. 


INDEX. 


Actinia,  271-275. 

Adaptation,  principle  of,  1,  30-40,  421, 

427-438,  514. 
^Esthetic  feelings,  137,  139,  145, 150, 151, 

153,  481-492. 
Amphipoda,  242. 
Analogues,  25,  292,  293,  308. 
Analysis,  452-454. 
Angles  of  leaf-veins  and  branches,  112- 

116. 
A  priori  speculation,  463-470. 
Archetype  skeleton,  180. 
Armature  of  plants,  134. 
Aristotle,  11,  465,  474. 
Articulata,  233,  266,  336-338. 
Association  of  ideas,  473-480. 

Back,  vertebras  of,  195. 

Bacon,  13,  421,  466. 

Barnacles,  245,  246. 

Bat's  wing,  210. 

Bats,  teeth  of,  216. 

Beauty,  481-488. 

Birds,  vertebriB  of,  198,  199;  diverging 
appendages  of,  207, 208 ;  cutaneous  mus- 
cles of,  295. 

Blood-corpuscles,  79. 

Bone,  structure  of,  77;  typical  form  of, 
185,  307. 

Bracts,  91, 135. 

Branches,  112-119. 

Branchiopoda,  242. 

Buds,  83. 

Butterfly,  mouth  of,  254-257. 

Calyx,  92, 136. 
Camel,  66. 
Campari ularia,  273. 
Carnivora,  teeth  of,  218. 
Cartilage,  76. 


Caterpillar,  249. 

Cause  and  effect,  467-470. 

Cell,  70-71. 

Centrum  of  vertebra,  178. 

Cephalopoda,  227. 

Cerebellum,  287. 

Chance,  40-54. 

Chemical  groups,  363. 

Cicero,  8,  9. 

Classification,  422-426,  451,  460-46& 

Coal  epoch,  flora  of,  348. 

Collocation,  principle  of,  34. 

Colours,  20-21,  53-58,  481. 

Colours  of  plants  (and  birds),  146-174 

Comets,  391,  392. 

Complementary  colours,  154-156. 

Cones  and  Coniferse,  120-128. 

Corolla,  93, 137. 

Correlation  of  physical  forces,  32,  460. 

Cosmology,  30. 

Covering  of  plants,  133. 

Cotyledons,  82,  141. 

Crustacea,  237-243. 

Crystals,  354-358. 

Curves,  24, 117,  483. 

Cuttle  fishes,  nerves  of,  281. 

Cuvier,  421,  431,  432,  434,  439. 

Development,  community  of  plan  in,  SOJ 
Development,  progressive,  817-822. 
Descartes,  493. 
Division  of  labour  in  science,  12, 13. 

Egg,  63 ;  of  bird,  308. 
Elephant,  66,  67 ;  teeth  of,  219. 
Endogenous  stem,  84. 
Epidermis,  73. 
Epithelium,  74. 

Equivalents,  chemical,  360-862. 
Exogenous  stem,  84. 


i38 


INDEX. 


Fat,  74. 

Feathers,  SO. 

Fichte,  4T1,  49T. 

Final  cause,  50-5(5,  427-438. 

Firs,  morphology  of,  119-129. 

Fishes,  skeleton  of,  196;  diverging  appen- 
dages of,  200,  2f)7;  teeth  of,  221. 

Form,  as  a  principle  of  order,  11,  21-28. 

Form,  the  faculty  which  discovers  the  re- 
lations of,  454-456. 

Form  and  colour,  relation  of,  147. 

Fossil  animals  and  plants,  309-353. 

Fruit,  139. 

Generalization,  460-467. 
Geology,  309-353. 
Gills,  292. 

Goethe,  26, 102, 103. 
Gravitation,  401-406. 
Gulf  stream,  380. 

Hairs,  80-86. 

Haemal  spine,  178. 

H.i  mapophysis,  178. 

Heat,  408-411. 

Hedgehog,  cutaneous  muscle  of,  296. 

Hegel,  471,  499,  500. 

Hcrbart,  500. 

Herbivora,  teeth  of,  219. 

Homoeopbytes,  308,  420,  427,  431,  531. 

Homologies,  25,  176,  308,  420,  422,  427, 

430-432. 
Homotypes,  25,  SOS,  420,  427,  430, 431. 
Homologous  series  in  chemistry,  364. 
Horn,  80. 

Horse,  foot  of,  212. 
Hydra,  272. 
Hymcnoptera,  263. 

Imaging  power  of  miud,  442-448, 507, 516. 
Inflorescence,  91. 
Insects,  243-265. 
Isomorphism,  359. 

Kant,  53,  466,  495-499. 

Laplace,  53;  his  cosmogony,  402-405. 

Laws  of  Nature,  14,  15. 

Leaves,  arrangement  of,  88, 89 ;  leaf-veins. 

angles  of,  112-116;  structure  of,  131, 

132. 
Leech,  62. 

Leibnitz,  494,  495,  501-503. 
Ligaments,  75. 


Light,  406-408. 

Limbs,  nature  of,  189-192,  208-212. 
Loins,  vertebrae  of,  195. 
Ludicrous,  sense  of,  144  note,  489. 

Magnetism,  19,  412,  413. 

Malebranche,  493. 

Man,  preparations  for,  346-353 ;  distribu- 
tion of,  384. 

Mandibles  of  insects,  61,  252. 

Maxillae  of  insects,  258. 

Mechanical  power,  32,  349,  350,  410,  411 
416,  417. 

Medus  e,  277. 

Mollusca,  archetype,  223-226;  modiflca 
tions  of,  227-232;  fossil,  338. 

Monsters,  429  note. 

Mountains,  371,  372. 

Muscle,  76,  294-298. 

Nails,  80. 

Neck  vertebrae,  194. 

Nervous  tissue,  78;  nervous  system,  280- 
2S8. 

Neural  spine,  178. 

Neurapophysis,  178. 

Number  as  a  principle  of  order,  11, 15-18, 
98, 1SS,  191,  192,  208,  215,  246,  270,  271, 
814,  318,  518-525. 

Number,  faculty  which  discovers  rela- 
tions of,  458,  459. 

Ocean.  373;  currents  of,  379. 
Oken,  27,  181,  182,  434,  517  note. 
Ophidia,  skeleton  of,  196-203;   teeth  of, 

221. 
Order,  principle  of,  1,  420-427,  429-489i 

464,  467,  514. 
Ostrich,  foot  of,  209. 
Ovipositors,  264. 
Ox.  foot  of,  211. 

Phyllodla,  85. 

Physical  geography,  870-382. 

Picturesque,  489,  490. 

Pines,  morphology  of,  119-129. 

Pistil,  94. 

Pitchers,  85. 

Planets,  389-391. 

Plant,  typical,  103. 

Plato,  7.  11,  426,  465. 

Pleurapophysis,  178. 

Podura,  263. 

Pollen,  78. 


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INDEX. 


539 


Pre-established  harmony,  431,  441,  442, 
4G2-40T,  470-473,  494,  495,  501-503. 

Prcfururations  of  Christ,  512-514. 

Progression,  theories  of,  317-326. 

Progressive  plan  in  geology,  317-327. 

Progressive  plan  of  Providence,  525-527. 

Property,  faculty  which  discovers  rela- 
tions of,  459,  460. 

Prophetic  plan  in  geology,  327-333. 

Pteropoda,  339. 

Pythagorean  system,  10,  465,  518. 

Quincunx,  126. 

Radiata,  267-279;  fossil,  314,  334-836. 
Pain,  377,  378. 

Relations  observed  by  mind,  450-452. 
Respiratory  system,  291-294. 
Rodents,  teeth  of,  217. 

Sacral  vertebr.e,  195. 

Schelling,  471,  497-499. 

Seed,  structure    of,  82;    nature    of,   95, 

140. 
Serpents,  60,  196-203. 
Shells  of  moliusca,  23,  65,  66,  815. 
Skeleton,  vertebrate,  175-212. 
Sloth,  67,  68,  197. 
Spinal  cord,  288. 
Spines,  86. 
Spinnerets,  266,  S37. 
Spinoza,  493,  494 
Spinal   arrangement    of  appendages  of 

plant,  88-90,  96,  97;  of  conifera,  124- 

128;  of  fossils,  311. 
St.  Ililaire,  Geoffioy,  27,  431,  434 
Stamens,  93, 137. 
Stars,  392-400. 
Stem,  structure  of,  84;   typical  form  of, 

187,  307. 


Stipules,  85,  133. 
Sublime,  490-492. 
Sun's  rays,  154,  411,  413,  414 
Supports  of  plants,  134. 

Tail  offish,  56,  320. 

Tail  vertebr.i-,  200,  201. 

Teeth,  213-222;  fossil,  842,343. 

Teleology,  30,  51,  428-43S,  514 

Tendons,  75. 

Time,  as  a  principle  of  Order,  18-20. 

Time,  faculty  which  discovers  relations 

of,  456-458. 
Tortoise,  204. 
Types,  1,  23,  401,  456. 
Types,  organic,  364-366. 
Typical  appendage  of  plant,  83. 
Typical  bone,  1S5,  307. 
Typical  cell,  69,  70. 
Typical  limb,  192. 
Typical  numbers,  518-525. 
Typical  plant,  108. 
Typical  skeleton,  180. 
Typical  system  of  New  Testament,  527- 

532. 
Typical  system  of  Old  Testament,  508- 

518. 
Typical  tooth,  214,  215. 
Typical  vertebra,  178. 

Universals,  466. 

Vascular  system,  288-291. 
Vertebra,  typical,  178. 
Vessels,  72. 

Whole  and  Parts,  faculty  whicb  disoov 

ers  relations  of,  452-454. 
Winds,  trade,  374,  375. 
Wood,  72. 


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